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Argos Value Range Single Mode White Shower Head
by suziedre
I absolutely hate my bathroom. It's relatively newly decorated by the people who lived in my house before me, but their choice of decor really wasn't my cup of tea. In an attempt to get it more to my tastes, I decided to make a few changes to freshen the room up a bit. This led me to buy this Argos Value Range Single Mode White Shower ... Head, as the existing shower head was starting to look a bit battered.
Money being tight, I had to shun anything too elaborate or chrome-finished, and this shower head from the Value range appealed massively to my thrifty side. At £2.99, I figured that even if it was rubbish, I could always go and buy something a little dearer.
The shower head is white plastic and comes in a clear plastic bag - no fancy or wasteful packaging here! The main body is thin with a screw-bottom, and the head itself is circular. It's quite narrow. While low-priced and plastic, I don't think it looks particularly cheap or nasty, overall its appearance is inoffensive and I don't think this is obviously from the bargain range.
The head has 30 holes in it, and only one spray strength/pattern is available, so you can't adjust this head to make the spray stronger or weaker depending on your taste. This might be a problem for some, in which case, you'd better pay more than £2.99! I personally don't mind that only one strength of spray is available as no matter what kind of shower head I have ever used, I have always kept it to the strongest one available anyway.
To use, you simply screw the shower head onto your existing shower hose - this will screw onto any. Despite being made of plastic, this felt secure enough when I screwed it onto the hose, and I had no concerns that the plastic rim would break when I was tightening it.
I have an electric shower and I found that the spray released from this shower head was sufficiently powerful enough. It's not going to be a like a power shower, but this has always been strong enough for me. I have long hair that takes ages to rinse shampoo out of, and I have found that this is just as good for rinsing as the previous shower head. Similarly the water that comes out of this does not spray out into one specific place; it spreads the water out nicely and evenly.
I would buy this again as I have had absolutely no problems with it. It does the job, was cheap, and being plastic, is very easy to wipe clean and keep new-looking.
Is it the best shower head ever? No, of course not. But I can't give this anything less than 5 stars, because what you get for the ridiculously low price is a very good shower head indeed.
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Mira Gem 88 Shower
by pumfster
When we bought our new house a few years ago, we discovered to our dismay that the shower that was fitted had an aversion to hot water. It was a cheap generic brand that was fitted all across the estate when it was built and we found that we couldn't find a replacement thermostat to repair it. However, a few months later we finally got ... around to purchasing a new one, and the model we went for is the Mira Gem 88.
Mira are one of the best-known suppliers of showers both here in the UK and abroad, and so any problems could be easily fixed, as replacement parts are plentiful. The Gem 88 is a simple mixer shower, as we didn't want the extra expense of having electricity supplied to either a power shower of electric one. We purchased it from B&Q for £220, although I am sure you can get one in most hardware stores or on the internet and probably a few quid cheaper than we paid.
As we know nothing about plumbing we asked a local one to do the honours, which took a couple of hours and then we were ready with our shiny new Gem 88. It is not suitable for people with combination boilers installed in their house but is fine with the gravity fed systems that most people still have. The shower has adjustable fittings from 149mm to 154mm meaning that it should fit onto any pipe configuration if you already have a shower installed. The shower also uses Mira's anti lime scale technology meaning it is safe to use even in areas with very hard water supplies without taking any other measures.
The shower is installed on the wall, and has an all chrome finish. It is also available in an all white finish, but this wouldn't have fitted into our colour scheme. It has an easy to adjust handle for temperature control, an adjustable showerhead, and convenient hose retainer and soap dish. In addition there is a neat little hook which holds the shower head in position and so there are no pipes dangling all over the place. All of this looks very smart, without being too bulky as some showers can be. There are 4 different spray patterns that the shower head can dispense, these being standard flow, soothing flow, a forceful flow and a water saving reduced flow, ideal for all of you with a water meter, or large family wanting to use it. I will say here that with our gravity fed system that the reduced flow doesn't seem to be any less than the standard flow, but I'm guessing this is dependant on the plumbing present in the individual property. It says on the instructions, (although again it means nothing to me!!) that the minimum pressure is 0.1 bar, right through to 5.0 bar and if the pressure is still not enough for you, it is fully compatible with a standard pump which can be installed in the attic next to the water tank at a later date quite simply by any reputable plumber.
The control of the water temperature is very easy, using the traditional red and blue colouring to depict hot and cold, with a simple handle being turned clockwise to turn the shower on and a dial being turned to alter the temperature. In addition the shower responds to the changes on the dial quickly so there is no risk of burning as with some showers which don't react and then go mega hot thirty seconds later!
The shower also comes with a one year guarantee giving you the piece of mind that you will not have another hefty bill if anything goes wrong, and being one of the largest suppliers of showers, any problems can be easily sorted due to the availability of spare parts and the familiarity that most plumbers have with this brand.
To sum up, I would recommend this shower to anyone who would prefer a mixer shower over an electric one, or for anyone who cannot have a power shower installed due to the size of their hot and cold water tanks. It provides an invigorating shower, at a decent pressure and looks very stylish up on our bathroom wall as well as offering the peace of mind that a large reputable company can.
Thanks for reading and this review can also be found on Ciao under my same username.
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Eaga Shower Smart
by Bellroyd
In our house, I have the choice of a shower or a bath - or a quick rub-down with a piece of sacking, but only when I have been good.
In the mornings, I opt for a shower; in the evenings I tend to get my wife's second hand bath water. She is always having a dip when she isn't dirty and it is by no means uncommon for us blokes ... to get sloppy seconds. We don't mind.
Rather than use the en-suite shower, which is mediocre in terms of water flow and pressure, I invariably go for the super dooper whizz bang full monty powerful shower in the main bathroom. It's got a lovely old fashioned shower head and you get loads of water flow.
That is great as far as getting a good invigorating shower is concerned, but I have noticed that even though I don't linger long in there, I do seem to use a lot of water - hence my interest in this little gadget. Eaga are currently offering one of these free to every household in the country. Just Google their website and enter your details, whereupon Bob will be your Uncle and Fanny your aunt! Mine arrived on Wednesday (that's the device, not Aunt Fanny) and I have used it twice since fitting it.
The Eaga Shower Smart is basically an OFGEM approved water flow regulator which fits between the shower head and the hose and gives you a standard regulated flow of 7.8 litres per minute. I was able to fit it in about 3 minutes and I saw no difference whatsoever in the quality of the shower, although I was conscious that there appeared to be less water disappearing down the plughole as I washed my bits. ( Just for the record, the view to the plughole was not hindered due to the girth of my belly or anything else for that matter.)
It comes with a 15 year guarantee which will see me through to my dotage and if the manufacturer's claims are to be believed, its use will save more than a tonne of CO2 in its lifetime - who's counting? More importantly, with our water being metered, I should save a few quid whilst it remains fitted.
One point to note is that you can't use it on electric showers.
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