What shower to get for very low pressure?

[EleanorofCastile]

Our water supply is, we think, is shared between the 5 flats in the building (large Victorian house which has beeen extended and converted).

We have low pressure, particulary in the mornings when others in the building are probably having a shower. I've been told conflicting things about whether a pump would work (including that it would just make things even worse for the flat about us!) and I'm concerned about the noise these make.

Has anyone got a thermostatic shower that might help with low pressure? I was going to just go with a basic one as didn't think it was worth investing too much in an unsatisfying shower, but then came across something like this, which would be worth the investment if it works: www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/mira-relate-erd-thermostatic-shower-mixer-chrome-2-1878-002

At the moment, we just have a shower attachment on the bath taps, which are poor quality and old.

I've spoken to two plumbers about this so far who haven't really been that helpful or knowledgable about this (we aren't going with them for our bathroom refit!) and have another one coming on Wednesday for a quote.

have you got a combi boiler? Or a hot water cylinder? What colour?

have you got your own cold tank?

how old is the building?

Caveat: am not an expert, but have had and (largely) solved this issue.

Lived in a top floor (basement, ground, first then us) Victorian flat and had exactly same issue. I was told by several plumbers that a pump wouldn’t work in a flat, as far as I recall because it can’t pump the water up the mains any faster and needs to feed from a tank?

We had a void in the eaves and installed a tank, but didn’t then add a pump, the tank auto filled and supplemented the mains water flow enough to give good pressure when showering. It wasn’t perfect, but was a lot better and the size of tank gave enough for two showers then refilled over the next few hours. We didn’t add a pump as that would have given great pressure but emptied the tank too quickly IYSWIM.

Hope that’s vaguely helpful...

Thank you for the replies. We’ve got a combi boiler (sorry I should have said!) but not really any room for a tank unfortunately.

I might mention the tank option to upstairs as they might have access to the loft.

Building is late Victorian (high ceilings and set back from the road, I’m not sure if all these things add to the poor pressure!).

If you have a combi boiler and no tank you can't use a pump, especially in a building where the rising main is shared with other homes. If the residents committee ever agrees to replumb the building, have larger, individual water supply pipes.

The shower in your pic includes a drencher head which needs a large volume of water, so it not suitable for you.

Bar showers are for some reason cheaper and not as good as round mixers and don't last as long. If you have a surface mounted one, attached to surface-mounted chrome pipes, it will at least be fairly easy to replace when it goes wrong.

My favourite mixer is the round-bodied thermostatic Aqualisa. There are a number of versions at different prices, but they work on a similar principle with a heat-sensitive coil in the cartridge. The mechanism is very simple and it is easy for a plumber to maintain if necessary. I think the cheapest one is currently the Colt. Look around as prices vary. If you want to save money you can buy a budget slider rail and handset, as the Aqualisa ones are quite costly.

There are other brands, but i think none as good.
Sometimes Plumbworld have good bargains.

Here's one from the "Aquavalve" range that i partticularly like. They seem to have discontinued the surface-mounted version, which is the same thing with a shell round it. Others from the range are much more expensive.

Thanks PigletJohn! I will discuss the option for concelealed vs exposed showers when I get the fitting quote tomorrow (I imagine there will be a price difference for install too, it’s on a solid internal wall, with no shower there are the moment) , but the Colt looks like it might be the best one for the job!