Concealed thermostatic shower brand recommendation

Paolo68

Greetings & happy new year to all !
I am having a bathroom refit and removing the tub. In its place, a wet room shower, which is going to be a good size, 1500 x 900.
I have my builder secured, the responsibility of purchasing the main items is down to me, thus my choice.   I am battling the minefield of shower choices and essentially looking for some recommendations. Ideally, I would like a concealed shower, overhead shower with a separate hose. I am really not bothered with wall thermal sprays. Prices vary so much, dependent upon brand and I am looking at Facebook, Ebay, Amazon in addition to the usual online sites. I don't yet have a shortlist, but spent time looking at a Vado Celsius [ ebay.co.uk/itm/Vado-Celsius-Round-2-Way-Concealed-Thermostatic-Valve-200-Over-Head-Shower-Hand/283352655672 ].   I looked at Grohe/Hansgrohe since I have purchased those taps for my basin and bidet, they are at the extreme end of my budget, in fact, their shower sets are probably over my budget. There is Bristan & Crosswater in addition to to other brands. Rainshower or old fashioned adjustable spray?  I have a combi boiler and pressure is relatively good, my boiler is almost ready for an upgrade, but currently, I have a Worcester Bosch 28CDi RSF, I think its a good 10 years old. Bathroom is upstairs and the flow rate from the cold basin tap is approx 9 litres per minute. 
Any experiences / recommendations would be much appreciated. 

Doozergirl

We've been using Crosswater for 6 years and I swear by them now.  We've not had a problem with any Crosswater product yet and we've fitted a lot of bathrooms!   Everything is Crosswater in our self build.  

The aesthetics of concealed shower valves is pretty much of a muchness, but they have a attractive range of taps and their sanitaryware/furniture has lovely clean lines and is branded as Bauhaus and Simpsons. 

Sanctuary Bathrooms offer some of the best prices on their products.  

Jeepers_Creepers

Paolo68 said:

Greetings & happy new year to all !
I am having a bathroom refit and removing the tub. In its place, a wet room shower, which is going to be a good size, 1500 x 900.
I have my builder secured, the responsibility of purchasing the main items is down to me, thus my choice.   I am battling the minefield of shower choices and essentially looking for some recommendations. Ideally, I would like a concealed shower, overhead shower with a separate hose. I am really not bothered with wall thermal sprays. Prices vary so much, dependent upon brand and I am looking at Facebook, Ebay, Amazon in addition to the usual online sites. I don't yet have a shortlist, but spent time looking at a Vado Celsius [ ebay.co.uk/itm/Vado-Celsius-Round-2-Way-Concealed-Thermostatic-Valve-200-Over-Head-Shower-Hand/283352655672 ].   I looked at Grohe/Hansgrohe since I have purchased those taps for my basin and bidet, they are at the extreme end of my budget, in fact, their shower sets are probably over my budget. There is Bristan & Crosswater in addition to to other brands. Rainshower or old fashioned adjustable spray?  I have a combi boiler and pressure is relatively good, my boiler is almost ready for an upgrade, but currently, I have a Worcester Bosch 28CDi RSF, I think its a good 10 years old. Bathroom is upstairs and the flow rate from the cold basin tap is approx 9 litres per minute. 
Any experiences / recommendations would be much appreciated. 

Lucky you, having space for such a large shower. :-)

But - potential warning bells... Your cold basin tap will be fed from the mains (combi system) and a flow rate of 9lpm is not very good. This needs checking properly, of course, but it does suggest a mains flow rate which is just about usable for a combi, but not reassuringly so.

Your current combi - at 28kW - is also in the 'ok-ish' territory, but if you want a shower sensation to match the roominess of your cubicle, then you may wish to check and consider a few things first.

A 28kW combi will deliver around 11.5 litres per minute of nicely heated water - say around 60oC. That's good. Your thermostatic shower mixer will blend this with cold water - say a round 4-ish lpm - to give you a comfy ~38oC shower with a potential flow of 15lpm. Niiiiice.

Except it might not, because what your mains is providing might be well under this. Do you have an outdoor tap? Could you test the lpm from there and also your cold kitchen tap? (Run full-blast for 10 seconds. 'Times' the litres by 6 to get lpm)

I notice the shower you've linked to has one of these 'modern' slim handsets. Have you used one of them? Hellish - like being jet-washed. If that's what you like, then cool, but personally I'd have a conventional 'round' head if possible, perhaps even one with adjustable settings. The rain-head is nice - I hope you have enough flow to make it work convincingly...

This is the situation - IF your cold mains supply is as poor as it could well be - 9 or 10lpm (and that is poor - 9lpm is the min the WB is allowed to get away with) then your shower will be mediocre. Even the 28kW combi will be oversized! Your shower will only be able to use around 7 litres of hot 'cos it'll have to blend a few litres of cold to get the set temp, so between the H&C you'll still only have a 9 litres per minute shower - that is rubbish, I'm afraid.

So, I presume you are having a plumber install this for you? Cool - make sure they check the flow and pressure and can ASSURE you of at least 15lpm delivery in your shower. That is minimum.

If it turns out that your cold mains supply isn't anywhere near that, then you have a problem. You'd need to determine the cause - will a new mains pipe from the street fix it? - or arrive at a solution, such as a mains accumulator (pumped or passive, depending on your mains pressure). (Do you have a garage this could be placed in?)

IDEALLY you want a solid mains supply of ~20+ lpm, and your new combi would be a 35+kW jobbie. (It won't be too powerful for your rads because they modulate down to suit whatever system you have. But when you want lashings of hot water, that's when they'll fire up the whole 35kW if needed.)

First things first - you need to know what your mains supply is like.

Paolo68

@ Doozergirl - Thank you. I have been looking at them too. Concealed is just aesthetics and less cleaning !
@ Jeepers_Creepers - Food for thought !  A plumber will do the work, I would not attempt doing this myself, leave that to a professional. I am in S W London and just assumed my pressure was 'normal', but in for a penny, in for a pound, the boiler is of a certain age and whilst serviced regularly, technology moves on and as you suggested, perhaps a 35+kW would be the way to go. I appreciate the responses for sure !