How to increase shower water pressure?

Low water pressure in your home can be one of the most irritating problems you can have. Although irritating across the home, perhaps the most annoying part of suffering from low water pressure is subjecting yourself to having a dribbly shower on a morning, which doesn’t exactly set you up brilliantly for the day.

If you are experiencing low water pressure in your shower, there are a number of things which could be responsible. This article will investigate a few of the most common problems, and point you in the direction of some quick (and not so quick) fixes.

Clogged Shower Head

Mineral and Lime scale build up can affect and clog up your shower head over time, with the result being a less than clean appearance and reduced water flow. Although a thorough clean of the shower head should suffice and free up the blockages, it may well be worth investing in a replacement shower head. If lime scale is a problem in your area, then a lime scale fighting shower head should be considered. The unique designs of these products resist lime scale build up with automatic self-draining and integrated pins for easy cleaning.

Neighbours have low water pressure

If you and your neighbours have low water pressure in your homes, it’s likely that your utility company and their infrastructure is responsible. There has been many cases where a petition has been launched against a utility company, with the aim of pressuring them to upgrade their infrastructure, including their mains water pipes. A way to improve your showering experience in this circumstance is purchasing a specialist low water pressure shower head. These heads are designed to give better performance than a standard shower head in low water pressure households, distributing the water better, for improved coverage and experience.

Low Shower Water Pressure with a Combi Boiler

If a combi boiler is struggling to provide the water pressure you want for your shower, then it’s worth replacing your shower with an electric shower. Not reliant on your boilers ability to provide hot water, electric showers never run out of hot water. A heating element within the shower heats cold water, so these showers only need a good supply of cold water to give you an excellent shower experience! If you don’t have enough water pressure for an ordinary electric shower, the solution is to fit a pumped electric shower. Pumped electric showers take in and heat cold water just like a standard electric shower, however they also use an internal electric pump to increase water pressure leaving the shower head. To further increase pressure, a cold water accumulator can be installed.

Low Water Pressure across Your Home

If low water pressure is something which affects your entire home, then purchasing a HomeBoost pump can be the most effective way to increase water pressure. Produced by Salamander Pumps, the HomeBoost intelligently measures the water supply entering your home, only kicking in when the water supply falls under the legal limit of 12 litres per minute. You can find more information about the Salamander Homeboost here.

Low Pressure living ‘Off Grid’

If you have low water pressure and live off Grid, pumping you own water supply from a spring or well – it’s always a good idea to evaluate the entire system. This approach allows you to identify the area responsible.  In some circumstances a Salamander Homeboost Pump is all that is required.

Low Pressure in Gravity Fed Systems

In Gravity Fed Shower Systems most commonly found in the UK, the homes water systems are connected to a cold water system which is kept in the loft. These are low pressure systems, and simply rely on the height of the tank to provide the water pressure for the shower. Size and space constraints in many British homes mean that there is simply not enough distance between a shower and a tank to provide the water pressure desired. To run a shower without additional pressure, there needs to be at least 3ft between the bottom of the cold water tank and shower underneath – sounds like a familiar problem? Then enter the shower pump. Shower pumps can be easily hidden out of sight and can entirely revolutionise your showering experience. These pumps have been proven to be able to raise water pressure from a meagre 0.3 bar to 3.0 bar without any problems.

Still not sure?

If you have read the above information and still aren’t sure about the right product or solution for you and your home, just get in touch. At the Shower Doctor we have a dedicated team which have been trained to answer queries and questions you may have, many of whom are trained shower engineers. You can call them on 0131 538 4343 or contact our customer service team via this page.

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