shower heads

[Stephen]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a new shower head (the shower is fed from a combi boiler if that makes a difference). Are there any recommendations on what to buy or what not to buy?

I saw that Mira were doing an eco shower head that claims to use a venturi to aerate the water so that it feels like a "normal" shower head but uses much less water, reducing water costs and heating costs.

I was thinking of giving it a go, but I searches the internet and found someone saying this: "I don't think theres any replacement for volume and pressure of water personally. Aerating heads give the impression of more water but aren't very effective at actually getting rid of the soap (and cool the water - which you compensate for by turning up the temperature)."

Has anyone had experience of these aerating shower heads and do you agree with the experiences of the review I found?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Lobster]

On 18 Jun 2015, Stephen grunted:

Yeah, we've had one for a few years. As the parent of three then-teenagers I was getting pissed off with them ignoring all requests to reduce their shower duration to less than about 30 minutes, and consequently continually draining the hot tank. I fitted a Mira eco jobbie in the family bathroom (we have a mains pressure hot water system which generates really good showers).

It's definitely made a big difference to the overall hot water consumption. I wouldn't say it's quite as nice to shower under as a standard shower head (which I've retained in our en-suite) but it's really pretty good, and I certainly don't have a problem using it on occasions when I use the family bathroom. I would say they are "not quite as effective at getting rid of soap" (or mor accurately "not quite as quick") rather than "aren't very effective", but they are still perfectly OK. Hadn't noticed any water cooling effect; hadn't occurred to me, but if it happens (which sounds plausible) it must be pretty minimal; and as I say, we use far less hot water since I fitted the thing.

One other point is that it's actually quite noisy in use compared to a conventional shower head. Doesn't bother me, but it irritates SWMBO. I think you'd only really notice it if you regularly use a standard shower in parallel (ie as we do).

[Stephen]

It was the Mira eco I was looking at. I might give it a try, thanks for the recommendation.

I suppose if there is a cooling effect and you need the water hotter, you use less water, so overall there is still a fuel saving?

[RJH]

But you need to stay under longer to rinse properly etc. And on it goes :-)