Advice on which shower mixer?

[Lee Blaver]

Just planning the bathroom revamp and now have to choose a shower mixer..

Background; We have a Turbomax 828 (28Kw DHW/11 l/min) combi, which is supposed to be fully modulating for hot water, and this is a flat with just two of us, so additional hot water drawoff whilst showering won't be a problem. I'm not quite so sure about mains pressure fluctuations though.

So.. I'm unsure whether to go for a pressure-balancing, but not thermostatic, mixer like the Mira 415 or go for a normal thermostatic mixer like a Mira Excel. SHMBO wants concealed mounting in either case.

Any opinions on the type (or brand) to go for? Does one method have any particular advantages over the other?

Or should I just go OTT and fit a thermostatic mixer along with a separate pressure balancing valve?

Lee

[BigWallop]

Have a look through these:

me able to make your mind up wth the information in this lot. :-) LOL

[Lee Blaver]

I've had a look at all of those and I'm still none-the-wiser :-(

Thanks though :-)

Lee

[BigWallop]

Hee Hee !! Then me'thinks you should ask advice of local plumbers. If they can't get one to work your system, then at least you'll have some kind of compensation to come to you for a shoddy workmanship claim.

[John Stumbles]

Neither of you ever uses the kitchen while the other is having a shower then? No washing machine either?

Consider just going for a thermostatic 2-knob type: just turning on the flow knob and getting water at the right temperature without fiddling around adjusting it is quite nice (I'll fit one for myself one day :-)

---8

do a thermostatic mixing valve along the lines of those shown on this page. Theirs has fairly plain domed cylindrical knobs (like the 'contour' but without the gold-ish ring) with flats on so you can turn them with soapy hands. Theirs are about £100 inc VAT. It's built like a brick sh1th0us3 and although designed to be rendered into the wall (in Southern European building fashion) you can get at the thermostatic valve to clean scale off or whatever after it's installed, and it generally looks as if it's built to last.

I've fitted one to a system with a combi and it seems to do what it says on the tin.

hth

-- John Stumbles

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-+ Many hands make light work Too many cooks spoil the broth

[Ed Sirett]

Go thermostatic, it wont need pressure balancing (and if you feed it with cold mains as you should it is more or less balanced anyway). Mixer manufacturers make (astounding) claims for the pressure ratios their gadgets can handle.

Avoid concealed unless you have access to the wall from the other side. More than once I've seen a slight installation fault on concealed cause disporportionate damage. If you do go concealed make absolutely sure it's done right and water proof.

[Lee Blaver]

I was thinking more of a decent thermostatic originally, so that's what I'll go with. Thanks.

I don't have any choice in whether it's concealed or not, SWMBO has spoken :-) It will be accessible afterwards though, I'm thinking of a removeable panel or somesuch.

Lee

[Lee Blaver]

Not hot water, no. Both washing machine and dishwasher are cold fill only and SWMBO wouldn't dream of washing anything up by hand... :-)

I know the type you mean, SWMBO didn't fancy one of those, she found the small taps uncomfortable and akward to turn. (She has a slight problem with grip). The large control of the Mira is ok for her, or maybe a single lever type like the taps in we have :-)

Also, the BES website doesn't work on Mozilla, grr...

Lee