How to improve low water pressure in shower???

Hi everyone!

I haven't been online for quite some time as my partner and I were taking some time out travelling through Asia between our old life in Ireland and the beginning of our new life in Timaru in (supposedly) beautiful Canterbury. It has mainly been raining since our arrival on Saturday but be got a glimpse of the beauty yesterday :uhoh

We are currently house hunting, as you do, and a house we looked at today pleased us very much.
Unfortunately the water pressure in the shower is quite bad and I remember how that annoyed me in our last house in Ireland. The house ticks all of our boxes and we are breaking our heads about how it would be possible to improve the water pressure.

Has anyone here come across that problem? Any advice on what we could do? I have a handy man here with me who needs to be kept busy anyway, while I am at work :biggrin:

We really like the house but the shower would be a deal breaker if not fixable....

Hanna

You have got to inquire what the pressure of that incoming water is. Ask either council or probably a plumber directly. There are certain ways depending on the existing situation. Some of them require a formal dealing with it, involving a registered plumber and perhaps also council. So you could also get a quote from them. From what I know it is not necessarily just a DIY job. Quite some time ago we were contemplating something similar in our own house and decided finally against it.

As mentioned above it depends on the current set-up. If the shower feeds from a hot water cylinder AND a cold water tank in the roof then installing a shower pump may be a fairly simple way to go and the incoming (mains) water pressure won't matter. If there is no cold water tank and the whole house runs at mains pressure it will need a different solution.

PS. Don't worry about the rain; this is unusual.

Our last house had good water pressure everywhere apart from the shower. After much faffing about and contemplation (and about nine months!) we spent about $40 on a new hose and shower head and it sorted the problem. What's the pressure like from the bathroom taps, including hot?

Oh, I might try that solution.., we have replaced the hoses in both showers due to them leaking, but might have to get a new shower head. I find the general pressure good, just the showers could be a bit better.....:nice1

I had the same problem with my shower. Almost drove me crazy. Got a few recommendation and a qualified plumber told me it is probably due to the old water heater (electric cylinder). Would cost me like over $1500 for it but would guarantee good (hot) water pressure.

To cut the story short, like in Kanga's case, the culprit was also the shower head. It was a new shower head that had all kinds of settings - spray, directed, massage, pulsating, etc. But unfortunately these shower heads will only work well with good water pressure. Maybe it would work well with the extra $1500 expense for the new heater, but for now, a simple shower head with big holes work just fine.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. So far, we are hoping a replacement of the shower head might do the trick but good to know what other causes it might have.
I can't actually answer your question, Kang, as I only tried the shower. But fingers crossed we'll get another viewing of the place next week, as it still is the runner of all the places we have seen so far. i will certainly give all tabs a run and we'll take another shower head with us and see if it wouldl make a difference.

The other thought we had, was not to commit for a too long when agreeing to a contract and see how we can get this sorted. At least we won't be caught with it, in case it doesn't work for us ;)

Hanna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanga

Our last house had good water pressure everywhere apart from the shower. After much faffing about and contemplation (and about nine months!) we spent about $40 on a new hose and shower head and it sorted the problem. What's the pressure like from the bathroom taps, including hot?

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oh done this before,,, turn on the hot and cold bathroom tap and see the pressure is ok, turn on the shower and see the drip drip drip. this is all about saving the planet.. apparently you have to have a rubbish shower to save the world :-) ..

if (like me) a good shower means more than the planet (apparently :-) ) then all you have to do is unscrew the shower head and look for a low flow valve, if it's not in the shower head it's in the 90 deg shower hose fixings, or the shower head fixing.. When you look into it, it's just looks very narrow compared to the pipe, easy to spot.. insert dril whirl whirl fixed :-) ....

oh and the world didn't come to an end, which was also good :-) and it was Tuesday.....

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bob_the_engineer

unscrew the shower head and look for a low flow valve, if it's not in the shower head it's in the 90 deg shower hose fixings, or the shower head fixing.. When you look into it, it's just looks very narrow compared to the pipe, easy to spot.. insert dril whirl whirl fixed :-) ....

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Yep, this fixed it for us too.

We spent about 6 months living with terrible showers but after asking a local plumber, who we use at work, to come and have a look he said that the water volume seems ok and had a checked if there was a flow restrictor in the shower head. Got home, took it apart, found the culprit, pulled it out and hey presto! Then I went and brought a nice new shower head :)