What type of shower do I need?

Confused about the different types of shower we offer? Finding your perfect model all starts with understanding which water system you have in your home.

Mains pressure – combination boiler

You have a boiler somewhere in your home – this is usually fixed to the wall and will be roughly the size of a kitchen cupboard. You don’t have hot or cold water storage tanks.

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A combination (or ‘combi’) boiler heats water on demand from your cold mains supply as soon as you turn on your shower or a hot tap. You won’t have a cold water tank (cistern) in your loft, or a hot water tank (cylinder) in your airing cupboard. Because the water feeding your shower comes straight from your mains supply, you enjoy a forceful water flow.

 

Mira recommends:

For optimum water flow, choose a high-pressure digital shower or mixer shower. Alternatively, if you prefer a gentler flow rate, or you’re looking for a lower cost option for a second/en-suite shower room, opt for an electric shower instead.

Low-pressure gravity system

You have a cold water tank in your loft and a hot water tank in your airing cupboard.

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This is still a common household water system – with the water supplied around your home kept under pressure via gravity. The water pressure you experience from your shower or a tap is determined by the height of your cold water tank (cistern) in the loft. For showers, this is typically a minimum of 1 metre – and the greater the height, the more forceful your water flow (1 metre = 0.1 bar pressure).

 

Mira recommends:

You can choose a Mira mixer shower to enjoy great performance. Or if you’re looking for an even more forceful shower experience, adding a shower pump to your mixer or digital shower installation will boost the flow rate further.

Mains pressure – unvented

You have a boiler somewhere in your home – this is usually fixed to the wall and will be roughly the size of a kitchen cupboard. You also have a hot water tank in your airing cupboard. But you don’t have a cold water tank.

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Mains pressure water is stored in a large, strengthened hot water tank (cylinder) – usually found in your airing cupboard. The hot water is heated either by an immersion heater fitted to the cylinder, or by a separate central heating boiler. You won’t have a cold water tank (cistern) in your loft. Because the water feeding your shower comes straight from your mains supply, you enjoy a forceful water flow.

‘Thermal store’ is a similar type of water system that also produces hot water at mains pressure.

 

Mira recommends:

For optimum water flow, choose a digital shower or mixer shower. Alternatively, if you prefer a gentler flow rate, or you’re looking for a lower cost option for a second/en-suite shower room, opt for an electric shower instead.

Cold mains supply

You don’t have stored hot water at all. However, you may have an existing electric shower, fed from the cold mains supply. The shower unit has its own heating element which heats water as it flows.

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Mira recommends:

You can choose one of our electric showers – these instantaneously heat water from your cold mains supply within the shower itself. If your home has low pressure, you can opt for a pumped electric shower to boost the flow rate.

Replace your shower

Let us find a perfect shower replacement and install it for you – just tell us your existing model.