You spend money to remodel your house and create the bathroom that you have always wanted. To have a satisfying shower it requires good water flow and good water pressure and if your shower doesn’t have that, you will not have an invigorating shower that you are looking for. You need to install a shower pump.

Shower pump can increase the water pressure that comes in the shower head and provide a steady flow of water and water pressure. Depending on what you need, type of hot/cold water system and added feature you want, there are different types of shower pumps that you can choose. Shower pumps come with different power that is measured in bars. The more bars it has the more powerful they are and the higher the water pressure they have.

Single Impeller Shower Pumps

The first type of the shower pump is the single impeller pump, it has a single driving blade that provide water pressure for either cold stored water or hot stored water. This should be installed in between the mixer valve and the shower head. This shower pump is use if the water pressure in the existing water system is less than what you want but not too low. This type of shower pump cost less since it provides fewer flexibility.

Twin Impeller Shower Pumps

The second type of shower pump is the twin impeller pump; this is use if the water pressure in the house is very low and it can pump hot and cold water from the hot and cold water storage. This should be installed below or beside of the hot water cylinder or tank, which is usually situated in the other part of the house like under the bath or in United Kingdom the hot water tank is place in an airing cupboard. It is advice to install the shower pump on a concrete slab for noise reduction and use flexible hoses to connect both incoming and outgoing pipes to the pump. This will reduce noise from the vibration and prevent damage to the pump. If there is a rubber buffer pad attached to the unit to reduce the vibration and noise, then it should not be bolted down to the floor. Another tip is to place it in an accessible area so that if it needs maintenance it is easy to reach.

Both have unit that has positive head shower pumps which pulls the water from the water tank. This is use when the cold water tank is above the shower area while negative head shower pumps pushes the water in the pipes. This is use when the cold water tank is below the level of shower area.

Either single or twin impeller shower pump, never attached it on the main fed system or directly to the boiler or even the combi-boiler system. There should be a water tank or storage if you want to use shower pump.

Since shower pump will use 11 to 16 liters of water per minute for 1.5 bar and up to 24 liters of water per minute for 2 bars, you will need adequate size of cold water tank. If this water tank will supply the whole household, the size should be no less than 50 gallon water tank, but a 25 gallon tank will suffice if it is use for the shower alone.

Installing Shower Pumps

When installing, also look into the added features for convenience. There are shower pump that are manually operated which means that you have to switch on and wait for a few minute before you can use the shower pump and there are automatic which when you turn on the shower, the shower pump will automatically work even with a minimum 0.5 bar water pressure running in the pipe. And there are more modern shower pump, not only it will automatically regulate the water pressure it also work just like a thermostatic shower mixer which regulate the water temperature and will shut down if there are excessive increase on either hot or cold water pressure.

Of course, price is also one aspect to look at. But don’t buy the unit because it is less expensive. Check out the features and if it’s compatible to your hot/cold water system and can it be use for single or multiple water outlets. There are some shower pumps that can’t be use continuously. You can only use it for 20 minutes and have to wait 40 minutes before you can use it again.

Proper use and maintenance of the shower pump to keep the unit functioning efficiently is important. Make sure that you place the shower pump in a ventilated area; pump should be place horizontally with pipe outlets pointing vertically upwards; install and use the shower pump as instructed in the manual; make sure that the hot water tank’s temperature is controlled to a maximum 65C, having higher temperature may result to cavitations which leads to poor shower performance and decrease the shower pump life. For maintenance, you need to check on the shower pump at least every 4 months if there are broken parts needs to be replaced; always clean the surrounding of the shower pump to prevent some rubbish to get stuck on the pump and clean the parts of the shower pump very month.

You should note that shower pump is not meant for water conservation since you will use more water per minute in the shower. This can lead to a significant increase in water bill especially if shower pump is used by the whole household. But having a shower pump can give you the best shower experience you can have since it will provide a steady stream of water and water pressure.