Advice on whether mixer tap showers work ok

TanDiy

Just looking to refit the bathroom and would appreciate some advice please. Our bathroom fitter says we should install a separate thermostat bar with shower and soaker above the bath but our neighbours just have a mixer tap with the shower coming off the taps and they say it works well. The hot water comes from a fairly new combi boiler. We are thinking that a simple mixer tap would be ok, but just wondered what other people are using. Thanks. 

ThisIsWeird

Both will work the same - a combi supplies mains-pressure water, so the water flow out t'nozzles of each type should be similar.
The differences would be things like, (a) ease of control - how simple to adjust flow rate and temperature, and how convenient to reach these controls (you'd be reaching down for the deck mixer), (b) whether both are thermostatic; bar mixers almost certainly will be, but you'd need to ensure the 'deck' mixer is also thermo if you choose this type ('thermostatic' is very important), and (c) aesthetics - a separate mixer bar will always look better, more substantial, and more 'expensive' - which, of course, it will be!

twopenny

I have an electric shower in the en suite. It's pleasant enough and gets me clean.

I have a mixer tap with shower and am impressed at the pressure that comes out. It is sited close to the immersion tank tho. Someone will say if that makes a difference. Very powerful.

Tho I had mine because I already had an ordinary shower and wanted this for hair washing/feet washing without a whole all over wash in summer primarily.

I have used the shower and soaker stuff, rainforest showers and such in hotels. Never found them more useful than an ordinary shower. In fact less so.

Sometimes it's useful to have a shower head and pipe you can take out of the bracket to wash various bits, hair only, swill the cubical/bath after use or cleaning so I wouldn't consider a fixed one.

ThisIsWeird

The OP has a combi, so no tank to be close to. 
The performance from either mixer should be similar (assuming both are designed for high pressure systems, and have no restrictors).
They should also have 3+ times more flow than an instant electric shower.

teaselMay

Nothing wrong with a mixer tap shower. If I was fitting a bathroom that's what I'd use, not least because if it ever goes wrong it's much more readily fixed by yourself.

When I moved in here, over a decade ago, there was an electric shower over the bath and a shower head on the bath taps. It only took about two days for me to give up on the electric shower as it had minimal pressure. I've used the mixer tap shower ever since. It does now have a flow restrictor head on it to save water, I think all modern ones will have that anyway though

TanDiy

Thank you for all the information. The bathroom fitter said it needs a thermostat bar to stop the person in the shower getting burnt because it stops the water suddenly going hot if somebody turns a tap on or flushes a toilet somewhere else in the house. I understand what they are saying but if people know you are in the shower then I cannot see this to be a problem. Thanks again. 

molerat

TanDiy said:

Thank you for all the information. The bathroom fitter said it needs a thermostat bar to stop the person in the shower getting burnt because it stops the water suddenly going hot if somebody turns a tap on or flushes a toilet somewhere else in the house. I understand what they are saying but if people know you are in the shower then I cannot see this to be a problem. Thanks again. 

Only if it is a non thermostatic mixer tap, a thermostatic one will operate the same as a bar.

daveyjp

TanDiy said:

Thank you for all the information. The bathroom fitter said it needs a thermostat bar to stop the person in the shower getting burnt because it stops the water suddenly going hot if somebody turns a tap on or flushes a toilet somewhere else in the house. I understand what they are saying but if people know you are in the shower then I cannot see this to be a problem. Thanks again. 

Easily managed by not having the combi hot water temp set to searing temperature.  Between 40 and 50 degrees should be more than adequate.

ThisIsWeird

TanDiy said:

Thank you for all the information. The bathroom fitter said it needs a thermostat bar to stop the person in the shower getting burnt because it stops the water suddenly going hot if somebody turns a tap on or flushes a toilet somewhere else in the house. I understand what they are saying but if people know you are in the shower then I cannot see this to be a problem. Thanks again.

You can get thermostatic bath deck mixers, too - they work just the same.

Whichever one you go for, I'd strongly suggest you do make it 'thermo', and not just for safety's sakes. It is set-and-forget, and should come on at pretty much the same temp every time. And if someone flushing a loo, brushing their teeth, or filling a kettle doesn't actually scald you, it will at least be very unpleasant to the showeree. Really, you'd be remiss not going 'thermo'.

On the matter of which style is easier to maintain, I'd suggest a wall-mounted bar mixer is absolutely the easiest to remove, requiring just two large chrome nuts to be slackened - and these shouldn't even be 'tight' in the first place. Once off, the mixer can be disassembled for repair, or simply replaced - there's little difference in cost.

A 'deck' mixer, on the other hand, will usually require the bath panel to be removed for access, and the hellish use of a tap spanner. Quite simply one of the most hated jobs on planet earth.

The only reason I can think of to go 'deck', is the cost saving.

casper_gutman

I'd definitely go wall mounted rather than deck mounted, for ease of access for maintenance and replacement. You could always get a single wall mounted thermostatic bath/shower mixer, which would do both jobs well I'd have thought.

We currently have one thermostatic shower fed by a 30kW combi boiler and one 10kW electric shower. The main reason we went for an electric shower in the second shower room was for redundancy if there was ever an issue with the gas supply or boiler. 

The combi gives a decent shower, and lower running costs than the electric. The electric has the advantage of being less prone to variation in pressure when people run taps elsewhere in the house. The thermostatic valve does a good job of preventing any sizeable fluctuations in temperature though.

Neither is as good on paper as the shower in our old place, which was fed from a tank with a pressure booster pump. In practice we found it gave a higher pressure/flow rate than we needed - we only ever turned it on part way - so we don't really miss it.

TanDiy

Thank you for all the helpful information. Made up our minds. We will go with the thermostatic bar instead of the mixer tap. Thanks again.