DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

For 15 years have had basic Triton thermo mixer shower - gravity fed, with absolutely no problems, always steady temperature even when other taps running/loo flushing.

Have now bought a Mira Atom with Diverter thermo shower, the one which has 'ordinary' shower head [u]plus[/u] the bigg'ish 'dish' type head directly overhead, can be switched between either of the two shower heads or have both on at the same time.

Our plumber has said we'd most likely need a pump to run this new shower properly. Do any of the experts have any thoughts on this. Obviously don't want the additional cost (or maintenance) of a pump we may not need, on the other hand he has us concerned that we may not have an effective enough spray without one.

Do you think that this type of shower, with dual 'heads', might indeed need more pressure than ordinary gravity fed?

Your plumber is probably right. These type of showers with large fixed heads do work better with a booster pump.

There are two things to consider when deciding if the shower will work.

Firstly, many modern showers don't like working on old low pressure systems. Check the min operating pressure. If it is above 0.1 bar then the shower won't work.

If the cold water header tank is not on legs then again you may have difficulty. ideally, there needs to be a metre between the shower head and the underside of the header tank for successful flow.

Thanks very much for that. It says "minimum operating pressure 0.1 bar, if running both outlets 0.25 bar". Hubby will check out position of the header tank too.

If necessary we may just return the shower and swap to one without the diverter, only really chose it as on offer for £199. Never had one with an overhead spray option anyway so not sure if I'll even like it.

Cheers