Many shower mixers work well with as little as 0.1 bars pressure (1 metre head) but in my mind 6 litres a minute and 3 metres heads (0.3 bars), is perfect.
A 7.2 KW electric shower, heating water to 30 degrees Centigrade, will give you 3.5 litres a minute. Some consider 4.0 litres a minute the absolute minimum for a good shower in winter.
A ‘good’ shower by traditional UK standards is 6 litres a minute.
To get a good shower, you need enough water to wash away suds, enough pressure so that the shower is invigorating, and the right temperature – neither too hot nor too cold.
Perhaps all you need is a shower head or shower hose to get a good shower but if you do need a pump to increase water pressure then there is a new shower pump 1/20th the size of traditional shower pumps invented in 2011 which is selling all over the world. Many customers can get away without a pump by fitting a decent shower head.
If you want a modern pump which is almost silent and is head and shoulders above the rest click on this link.
•Visit The ShowerPowerBooster Web Site.
In the USA, the maximum flow permitted from a showerhead is 9.5 litres a minute, and the UK government is looking to bring in an even lower rate .
A typical UK power shower might claim to give you 12 to 15 litres a minute but a standard shower head will limit the flow to 6 to 10 litres a minute. You can get 15 litres a minute with a ‘rain shower’ and to achieve the lower flows manufacturers put in flow restrictors in the showerhead to kill energy and reduce the flow and pressure. The ShowerPowerBooster gives a great shower using science (instead of crazy flow restrictors) to create a maximum flow rate of 9 litres a minute and an optimum output of 6 litres a minute.
A pump adding 1 bar of pressure increases the flow to 5 litres a minute
The choice of 6 litres a minute for its optimum output is no accident, as the SPB is targeted to produce the perfect shower, and if you switch from a bath to a shower you will save money.
A good shower is the result of the Wright showerhead, WRight shower hose, and WRight mixer tap, and pressure. Most people should look at the showerhead and hose first, as this is often the most cost effective way of improving a shower. It is easy to check if you have a low-flow shower hose, but many cheap low-flow shower hoses and mixers are sold to unsuspecting customers at inflated prices every day of the week.
Many mixers are sold as ‘ideal for combi-boilers’, which is code for “this shower needs a high pressure.” Why waste pressure forcing water through an inefficient shower mixer, rather than using that pressure at the showerhead to give a great shower? The trick is to specifically ask for a shower mixer which operates at a minimum of one metre head, and remember, any plumber who tells you such shower mixers do not exist or differently to this is not telling you the truth.