Choosing a Shower – DHM Building Maintenance

Showers are now a standard feature of UK bathrooms. Its difficult to believe that only a matter of 25 years ago showers were still a relative novelty in our bathrooms and the vast majority of bathrooms in the UK did not have a shower !

Whether you are replacing an existing shower or installing one as part of a new bathroom or Bathroom Refurbishment it’s important to get it right and make sure that you are getting the shower that will work with your existing plumbing set up and will deliver the functions that you are expecting. Like all things it pays to get the right advice from people that have the experience and the expertise in installing showers - that’s where DHM Building Maintenance can help!

With a team of expert Local Plumbers in East London, The London Docklands and The City of London we have installed countless showers in a wide variety of settings and can give you expert advice on what the best options are and, importantly how to get the best from your budget!.

The type of shower that can be installed depends to some extent on the household water system. Where hot and cold water are both supplied from the household storage system at equal pressure (indirect system) a mixer is the most economical type of shower. One of DHM Building Maintenance’s East London Plumbers will be able to advise you on this.

Where the cold water supply is direct from the mains, an instantaneous type of shower is necessary because it is illegal to mix low pressure hot water from a hot water cylinder and high pressure water from the mains together in one fitting.

If the hot water supply is from a multipoint instantaneous gas fed from the rising main, it may be possible to have a mixer type shower installed.

Check the installation requirements with the gas heater manufacturer, and get the shower connections carried out by one of DHM Building Maintenance’s experienced plumbers registered with CORGI. The range of showers available today are varied and can range from a few pounds for a push-on mixer to several thousand for a fully enclosed shower-steam-sauna cabin. The basic categories are as follows:

Push on mixer

A hose and spray fitted to the bath taps as required. Temperature is controlled through both taps, it is cheap and simple to install but the hose connection is easily dislodged and the temperature control is low and fiddly to adjust.

Bath/shower mixer

A shower spray combined with a bath mixer tap. The temperature is controlled through the bath taps. It provides a shower for little more than the cost of the bath taps and no extra plumbing is involved. The temperature control is incontinently low and fiddly to adjust.

Manual mixer

A wall unit with the hot and cold water supplies linked to a single valve. The temperature and volume is controlled by one knob or separately in more expensive types. It costs more to install that a bath/shower mixer but can be fitted at a convenient height for use and the temperature is easier to adjust. Hot and cold supply pipes have to be plumbed in.

Thermostatic mixer

A wall unit with the hot and cold water supplies linked to a single valve. The temperature has a built in stabiliser so that the hot water cannot run to hot, and should not be effected when the water is drawn off elsewhere in the house. Although more expensive than a manual mixer.

Instantaneous heat exchanger

This is an electric wall unit that allows you to position a mixer shower where a conventional mixer shower would be illegal. It is fed from separate bath taps where the cold water is direct from the mains, and can be fitted onto the taps or plumbed in. The hot supply feeds only the heat exchanger that heats cold water for the shower. Cooled waste water from the heat exchanger gives a low level warm spray. No electric power is needed.

Instantaneous Gas Shower

A wall unit plumbed in to indirect hot and cold water supplies, which are heated by a small gas heater, to supply a shower spray only, at an average temperature of 40*c without being affected by other taps in use. It incorporates duel booster pump that gives enough constant pressure to supply two showers simultaneously. The unit is not suitable for DIY installation it must be installed by a gas fitter and is to have an outside flue outlet to an outside wall.

Instantaneous Electric shower

This is a wall unit plumbed into a mains cold water supply which is heated by an electric element to feed the shower. It allows a shower where a mixer would not be illegal, but mains pressure needs to be at a normal level at least 10lb/sq. The control knob allows either less water at a higher temperature so the spray is weaker in winter when mains water is colder. More expensive models have a winter and summer setting. Some models have a temperature stabiliser and cannot run too hot or be affected by other taps in use. The unit must be wired to a separate electricity power supply taken directly from the consumer unit and connected strictly according to the manufacturing instructions. This is where having a team of experts from DMH Building Maintenance in to fit it for you can be advantageous – we can get the necessary professionals in to take care of the electrical and the plumbing work for you using only our team of fully qualified and experienced London Electricians and London Plumbers.

DHM Building Maintenance offers a one-stop service for the installation of showers and has the necessary expertise to get the job done professionally, safely and cost effectively. Our Plumbing services and electrician services are competitively priced and helpful giving you peace of mind and the assurance that the job is well done and safe. To find out more why not contact DHM Building Maintenance via our website www.dhmbuildingmaintenance.co.uk or by telephone on 0207 537 3988 and find out more.