What type of shower do I need? April 30, 2025 There are 3 main types of showers, Power showers, electric showers and thermostatic showers. POWERSHOWERS Depending on what type of water system you have will depend on the type of shower you end up choosing. If you have a traditional plumbing system with a hot water cylinder and cold water tanks in the loft, then a power shower will give you the best results when it comes to a new shower. Power showers are generally more expensive as they incorporate a small pump inside them. They can be quite expensive to buy, but offer reliability and good shower experience. These are a good solution for homes with low pressure. ELECTRIC SHOWERS Electric showers use mains water supply and can offer a good shower, they are generally cheaper to purchase but are not as reliable especially in hard water areas. Electric showers such as the TRITON T80Z be installed to any type of plumbing system provided they are connected to the mains water supply Electric showers come in different KW ratings, the higher the rating the better the flow rate. You would need a qualified electrician to install the electric supply which would be connected back to the consumer unit. These showers can not be connected to a ring main or lighting circuit due to the high KW required. The water is heated through an element inside the shower and is heated instantaneously as the water passes through the unit. THERMOSTATIC SHOWERS Thermostatic showers can be installed to any plumbing system, if you are fitting this to a low pressure system you may require an additional shower pump. Our preferred brand of shower pumps are STUART TURNER PUMPS we have installed 100's of these pumps and they offer excellent reliability. If installing an additional pump, you would need to consider the noise levels, they can be quite noisy. Thermostatic showers come in many different styles and types, from a bar mixer (see pic) to built in. The bar mixer options are generally cheaper to buy, and if they need to be replaced it can be done quite simply without affecting the tiling. Concealed thermostatic shower valves, whilst they look neater and more modern, if the spares are no longer available to purchase, this can result in a more complex and expensive job as tiles would need to be removed and replaced. So to summarise, firstly establish if you have a low pressure system or high pressure> that will determine what type of shower you need: LOW PRESSURE: Electric showers, Power shower, Thermostatic shower (may require additional pump) HIGH PRESSURE: Electric shower, Thermostatic showers