Electric Showers or Mixer Showers – Which one should you opt for? Showers have pretty much become a must have item for all bathrooms, in fact they are that popular that a lot of us are now even considering getting rid of our baths as a means of having one installed. If any of this rings true then I guess the next step you have to take is deciding which type of shower you should have installed.
Deciding to have a shower installed isn’t a case of simply hiring someone to fit it, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind. Do you want a free standing one? What shape and size do you want it and do you want an electric or a mixer? Although both of these do the job they were intended for, there is a significant difference between the two of them, which is the way in which they heat the water. Let me explain further…
With a mixer they, as the name suggests, mix hot and cold water from separate pipes in your home. They do this before the water is then released into the shower head. These are ideal if you are installing a new cubicle for the fact the pipes can be built into a wall. These types of showers have a built in thermostat and safety cut-out, meaning they can continually adjust the temperature of the water so it doesn’t come out too hot or cold. The safety cut-out is a great feature for the fact it prevents you from turning the water up to dangerously high levels. There are however a number of drawbacks to mixers. For one these use hot water from a tank so once this tank is empty you would have to wait for it to fill up again before you could use the shower again, not great if you have a big household.
Another common problem with a mixer shower is due to the fact the water is shared all around the house, it can be hard to get the right temperature, resulting in you messing with the dials a lot. Also if someone turns on a cold tap or flushes a toilet the cold water that was being pumped into your shower will stop to meet these other demands, leaving you showering with boiling hot water. The same can happen if a hot tap is turned on, you will just be left with cold water. So what about electric showers? Electric showers can be used within any domestic water system, they are generally connected to the mains and an element is then used to heat the water as it flows through. The water is basically heated using electricity, meaning you don’t have to worry about other people turning taps on and you will never run out of hot water. One aspect that puts a lot of people off this type however is the idea of combining water with electricity. However no electricity comes into contact with the water that comes out of the shower for the pure reason the heating element is contained within a sealed unit.
The choice that you make between an electric or mixer shower depends on your individual circumstance. When deciding you should think about what you want from the unit and keep the above points in mind. This will help you make an informed decision, which in turn will help you make the right decision.