Ordering bath taps

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

We are having our bathroom refurbished and we'll be putting in new sinks, bath, mixer showers and taps.

We have had a stainless steel hot water tank installed and the plumber told me that it has 2.0 bar pressure.

In looking at sink taps, I see that many state that 'Minimum Pressure 3.0 Bar / Maximum Pressure 5.0 Bar'.

I know that the hot water is 2.0 Bar, but what will my cold water pressure be ?

When the stainless steel hot water tank was installed, the cold water tank was taken out of the attic, so I guess we're on standard mains pressure - but how many Bar might it be ? I just want to be sure that I don't buy taps or mixer showers that are incompatible with what we have.

[gmaz]

Your cold should have a pressure valve on it to match the hot. A minimum 3 bar is pretty high, unless it is feeding a monsoon type shower. A quick look at screwfix shows high pressure taps and showers with a minimum of 0.5-1.7 bar.

[pubrunner]

gmaz said:

Your cold should have a pressure valve on it to match the hot. A minimum 3 bar is pretty high, unless it is feeding a monsoon type shower. A quick look at screwfix shows high pressure taps and showers with a minimum of 0.5-1.7 bar.

Thank you for the helpful reply - appreciated !

I was looking at getting something like these :

https://bathroomshopuk.co.uk/product/duravit-b-1-s...

It seems that these taps work best with a minimum 3.0 Bar and a maximum 5.0 Bar.

(We've bought Duravit sinks and I thought that I might go for Duravit taps - unless someone can suggest a single mixer tap of appreciably better quality)

[boyse7en]

3 bar seems a very high pressure for a minimum.

My mains water is nowhere near that, and I can't really understand why a tap would need such a high pressure as a minimum

[MattyD803]

Not sure what the basis of 3 bar min will be on a Duravit tap (perhaps for boosted systems in Europe), but without trying to delve into the detail of whether it would work or not, I would suggest you stick to what is commonly referred to as a "low pressure" tap, where the manufacturer's literature stipulates a minimum pressure which you know you have. (as suggested above, 0.5 bar+).

I have Duravit sanitaryware throughout and use Hansgrohe 'low pressure' brassware - we only have around 2.2bar in our home (mains fed system). It operates perfectly and have all been utterly reliable in service over the last 9 years.

In my experience, you really do get what you pay for on taps and showers.

[pubrunner]

MattyD803 said:

I would suggest you stick to what is commonly referred to as a "low pressure" tap, where the manufacturer's literature stipulates a minimum pressure which you know you have. (as suggested above, 0.5 bar+).

Yep, I think what you've suggested is the best way forward.

MattyD803 said:

I have Duravit sanitaryware throughout and use Hansgrohe 'low pressure' brassware - we only have around 2.2bar in our home (mains fed system). It operates perfectly and have all been utterly reliable in service over the last 9 years.

We're doing the same - we've just purchased two Duravit sinks and may well go for Hansgrohe mixer showers.

MattyD803 said:

In my experience, you really do get what you pay for on taps and showers.

Indeed; I've followed a lots of the postings on here and it seems that most of the recommendations are in line with Which magazine.

With regard to taps, Which magazine ranks the best as 1. Grohe, 2, Hansgrohe, 3, Vado (I only looked at Duravit taps to 'match' the name on the sink).

With regard to mixer showers, Which magazine ranks the best as 1. Hansgrohe, 2, Grohe, 3, Mira.
It seems that we won't go wrong, if we buy either Grohe or Hansgrohe taps/showers.

For the bath, we'll probably go for Carronite or Beauforte, which seem to be very durable.

For shower panels, we'll go for either Nuance, Fibo or Mermaid. I've been told, that Mermaid panels are made on the same production line as Nuance and they might be a good choice, as they have a return edge on the panels, meaning no trim is required.

It's worth repeating what you say - that "you get what you pay for".

Thank you for all the replies !

[pubrunner]

Another query if I may

Many mixer taps come with ceramic cartridges - how frequently do these need changing and is a plumber required for this ?
(We live in a [very] hard water area.)

Finally, are 'aerator' taps worth consideration ?

Thank you.

[B'stard Child]

pubrunner said:

Another query if I may

Many mixer taps come with ceramic cartridges - how frequently do these need changing and is a plumber required for this ?
(We live in a [very] hard water area.)

Finally, are 'aerator' taps worth consideration ?

Thank you.

I also live in a very hard water area - Ceramic cartridges are fine on all taps where "softened water" is supplied but on the kitchen tap the cold is not softened and after several ceramic cartridge replacements on the cold side I've gone back to a traditional tap

[pubrunner]

B'stard Child said:

I also live in a very hard water area - Ceramic cartridges are fine on all taps where "softened water" is supplied but on the kitchen tap the cold is not softened and after several ceramic cartridge replacements on the cold side I've gone back to a traditional tap

Did you need a plumber to change the ceramic cartridges, or is it a job pretty much anyone can do ?

[B'stard Child]

pubrunner said:

B'stard Child said:

I also live in a very hard water area - Ceramic cartridges are fine on all taps where "softened water" is supplied but on the kitchen tap the cold is not softened and after several ceramic cartridge replacements on the cold side I've gone back to a traditional tap

Did you need a plumber to change the ceramic cartridges, or is it a job pretty much anyone can do ?

It wasn't difficult but doing it every 3/4 months was a bit wearing (especially when they dripped a lot as they were starting to fail and so my water usage increased)

[Pistonsquirter]

Assume you're talking about blended hot and cold taps? Most modern ones work with 0.5bar and 3.0 bar differential between hot & cold.

[Spare tyre]

IKEA sell decent stuff