Best Shower Head?

[ChristopherLutz]

Ok...a bit off topic; however, I WAS in my garage over the weekend pulling apart a new shower head to remove the flow restrictor in a moderately successful attempt to get a good shower.

Any brands, suggestions, tips or "hot rod" ideas for shower heads? My water pressure seems "ok" - but, I can't seem to find a shower head that delivers a good shower.

the Mrs. complains she can't rinse her hair, etc. etc.

Ideas wanted - thanks.

 

[kartracer23]

Well there was this girl that I met one night in a bar, went back to my place, decided to take a shower and...

oh. wait. nevermind.

 

[Regnar]

Mine use to complain about not getting the soap out of her hair. Now she complains there is not hot water after 8 minutes.

 

[SgtRauksauff]

I really like this kind:

I first used them in the dorms in college, then have them in the house now. My concern with the big "fancy" shower heads, is that unless you have a LOT of pressure, you wont' get a strong stream, because the huge head allows the water to pool, rather than continuing to stream.

With the head above (you can even get 'em at wal-mart, I believe), there isn't really a collector on the end of it. I've never done any measuring, but I really believe that with this shower head, I actually use less water per given time of showering, because I don't have to crank up the pressure so much to get a good solid stream. a few times in the past, when I've become chilled from working outside too long in the cold, I've been able to take 1.5hr showers, and had wonderfully hot water the whole time. Whenever I'd try that before, I'd always end up getting about 25 minutes before the water would noticeably become cooler.

That's my opinion anyways.

--sareg

 

[rickairmedic]

1 tankless water heater
2 rainshower overhead
3 firehose looking showerhead on main wall
4 2 showerheads on backwall both with multiple spray patterns


These make for a possible never ending shower and plenty of water to get squeeky clean ( or really dirty ) depending on the shower .


Rick

 

[JerseyJim]

There's a Seinfeld episode on shower heads. I had tried a lot of different shower heads over the years and had been disappointed in some way or another with all of them. Went on Amazon and started reading reviews. Came up with one called the Alsons Fluidics Water Saving Shower Head. The model that I bought was the 656 rated at 1.85 GPM.

This is a standard shower head. It is not hand held. No adjustments. Nothing fancy. What I liked about this one is that the spray consists of large droplets. The volume of water seems much higher as a result.

It looks like Delta is now selling the same type of shower head. They call it H2OKINETIC.

Check both out on Amazon.

 

[metal1313]

i tend to use mine on a "mist" mode, but it seems much stronger this way, and is supposed to use less water. one thing that made a major difference for me was to have the shower head mounted higher. im 6'3'' and they wanted to mount the shower head right at 6ft. i hate bending to shower so i had them mount it higher, and now its perfect.

 

[Berserker]

I had a bad shower valve, cut open the wall with a sawzall and put in a T with two ball valves, with the handles bent out. Best damn shower.

 

[54FordPanel]

Well there was this girl that I met one night in a bar, went back to my place, decided to take a shower and...

oh. wait. nevermind.

 

[Trainman]

My vote is for a Sirolflex. Cheap white plastic, just one mode, but a really good shower especially if you take out the water saver parts. You can get them on feebay for less than $10.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Hansgrohe, pull the o ring out of it, Chicago faucet sells a commercial style head for public showers etc. Fully clean able, solid brass, costs a few bucks but you will never need another.

 

[ChristopherLutz]

I had a bad shower valve, cut open the wall with a sawzall and put in a T with two ball valves, with the handles bent out. Best damn shower.

Can you explain this a bit more? Did you create two shower heads?

 

[Torque1st]

SgtRauksauff, has it right. The same Peerless shower head is available at Alson's, Walmart, Lowe's, and Mills Fleet and Farm. All around $8-10.

The following link is for one version. I think the packaging differs slightly at different retailers:
http://www.peerlessfaucet.com/products/product.do?product.sku=76150

 

[PassnThru]

Understand that you may not be getting enough water through the pipe to begin with to ever be happy with any showerhead. Do you have an older home with old pipe? It might be getting clogged up. Of course, if it's copper that probably isn't a problem. Maybe someone ran an undersize pipe to the bathroom to begin with? I would first try a little redneck measuring without a shower head into a 5 gallon bucket and figure out the flow rate just to make sure.

 

[Torque1st]

Can you explain this a bit more? Did you create two shower heads?

Think about it for a moment. Surely you can figure it out.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Take your shower head off and do a gpm flow test with just the arm into a 5 gallon bucket, mark a 2 gallon mark in it, time the fill to the 2 gallon mark, adjust to a minute. Most new shower heads deliver 2.5 gpm out of the box.

 

[volvo]

..
Love my Holiday Inn/Suites shower heads, had to buy two, one for each bath. Always get complements from those who use them.

KOHLER K-10284-CP Forte Multifunction Showerhead,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MVTMMO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Homoudont]

I'm not a plumber but I'll try and explain what was told to me by a plumber regarding water pressure. The further away your from the main line the less pressure you have, the closer you are the more pressure you have. If your too close to the main line then you run the risk of blowing out your plumbing fittings so they outfit regulators to houses to decrease the pressure. He showed me a diaphragm looking thing connected to the main line coming into the house. I believe he had me turn it counter clockwise a quarter turn at a time to increase the house pressure. He said you wanted to do it in small increments over a period of time so your not blowing out fittings in your house. Anyway a small turn was suffice enough to increase our water pressure to acceptable levels.

Maybe a plumber can chime in and give a more detailed or correct explanation of this.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I buy a cheap one and drill out the restrictor plate instead of removing it altogether. You can keep drilling in increments until it suits you. When I have moved in the past, I took the shower heads with me and replaced the ones in the house I was selling.

 

[MP&C]

The Commando 450:

 

[ishiboo]

This Old House installed a model on the Auburndale house that had 3 flow settings, somewhere near 2.5/2.0/1.5 or something similar. Could be nice to get the GPM when you need it, and conserve water when you don't

It's pretty trick... it's held by water pressure, so the moment you turn off the water, it kicks back to the 1.5 setting.

 

[59 wagon man]

american standard has come out with a new low flow showerhead which is pretty good and uses about 1.5 gpm. barnett also has a good 1.6 gal showerhead

 

[56nash]

I love my Danze handheld, only after yanking the restrictor. It was simply by removing and O-ring around a plastic part on the input of the handheld head. I have loved it for the past 5 years.

 

[SloppyDogDrool]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/LDR-Nature-Mist-Two-Function-Variable-Spray-Shower-Head-520-1300C/15821943

Drill out the hole in the plastic swivel ball. You might run into one problem. I used them for YEARS. Then they changed them. As I recall they started coming with a washer that had a smaller hole. I think if I recall correctly I swapped out the washers with one that had a larger hole in it. I would think you could also cut the washer carefully but it would be a whole lot easier to just swap the washer with one that has a larger center hole.

I've lived in a lot of houses with low pressure and low flow. I've used them in rentals with very happy tenants. I've modified them for relatives and family members and people raved about them. I lived in a small town with really old homes. The pressure either sucked or the flow rate was low. This was the best I could come up with that gives you decent pressure, flow and enjoyable shower.

Good Luck!

 

[TN_GARAGE]

Speakman Shower Heads are advertised as being used in some of the finest hotels in the world.

http://www.speakmancompany.com/products/list/Shower

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Speakman is one of the best, Barnett is another hotel model, For a 5 year toss it head the barnett is the best, If you clean them and appreciate quality do the speakman or chicago.

 

[bluesman2a]

Speakman Shower Heads are advertised as being used in some of the finest hotels in the world.

http://www.speakmancompany.com/products/list/Shower

I've always been a fan of the Speakman design. We've always had them in our house, as a kid, and now as an adult. Solid brass and you can drill them a bit for better flow yet.

While looking for a new showerhead on Amazon this morning for my shop-shower, I came accross this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006H9D0U/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Looks like the same design, and less than half the price of the 8-jet Speakman. Favorable reviews, I think I'll try it for my main shower-head in the shop, just ordered one this morning.

 

[General Lee]

I got to have a detachable shower head. Shower head on a hose, gotta be able to rinse the crack.

 

[cablebandit]

http://www.highpressureshowerheads.com/high-pressure-shower-head-home.html

I have the Supreme model. The only problem now is running out of hot water.

 

[burleymike]

When I put in the master bathroom I bought a cheap hand held head. The flow sucked so I pulled the restrictor out. We got sick of running out of hot water after 8 minuets so I put a valve between the head and the holder. Now when I am shaving I can turn the flow down to near nothing and when my wife is washing her hair she can open it up.

 

[darkk]

the wife...

 

[drmoonshine]

The Commando 450:

Gotta have that pressure.

 

[mcdtommy23]

I buy a cheap one and drill out the restrictor plate instead of removing it altogether. You can keep drilling in increments until it suits you. When I have moved in the past, I took the shower heads with me and replaced the ones in the house I was selling.

The cheap $1.99 home depot specials. Bought 10 of them a 5/16 drill and they are perfect.

 

[mrhorspower]

Here is the newest and coolest. Flipside by Kohler. (4)different Experiences.

 

[jbs]

Speakman Shower Heads are advertised as being used in some of the finest hotels in the world.

http://www.speakmancompany.com/products/list/Shower

http://www.highpressureshowerheads.com/high-pressure-shower-head-home.html

I have the Supreme model. The only problem now is running out of hot water.

We have a Speakman 6 jet in one shower and the High Pressure Shower Heads Supreme in the other. Both are very good, but the Speakman needs more pressure than we have. It was excellent at our other house, but not as good now. They are both very good though.

If you have the pressure, I recommend the Speakman. We have had ours for 15 years. The occasional vinegar bath keeps in clog-free and good as new. We've had the Supreme only a year, so no report on longevity for it.

Both have easily removable flow restrictors.

 

[dragginbalz]

http://www.takeashower.com/headshome.php

a bit pricey and a bit simple, but I switched one out in our of our bathrooms that wasn't getting decent water pressure, NIGHT AND DAY difference!! I didn't really see how it was possible, but figured it would be worth a shot (money back guarantee and good feedback online)

I would not hesitate to purchase one again.

 

[bob_s2]

I've pulled out the restricter plate and had good results on some. Others seem to just be low-flow and there's nothing you can do about it. We had a bad valve one time that was seriously restricting the water flow. Changed it out and everything was much better.

 

[ChristopherLutz]

thanks to everyone for their suggestions - is the "valve" contained in the on/off mechanism? I have a single handle/lever that controls temp and on/off.

 

[Paco Pena]

I use the same type as SgtRauksauff. They work great for relatively low water pressure and restrict flow to 2.5gpm as well. Because of the small size relative to the pressure it gives a good sensation of higher pressure and flow. Plus if you want to get real environmental you can turn off the water while you lather up.
Paco

 

[cparsons]

I really like the Niagara 1.50 GPM Low Flow Massage Showerhead. It's not fancy but it works great. I've head four of them and will be getting two more when I get my new house next month. And you just can't beat the $15 price from Amazon.