Low pressure taps, where to get them?
Discussion
Does anyone know where I can buy reasonably modern looking low pressure taps.
By low pressure I mean will give a proper flow from tank pressure. Most modern taps are ceramic quarter turn jobbies, and they are crap.
Most bathroom websites claim to have low pressure taps, but I can piss faster than they can deliver water. I've even had one supplier blatantly lie to me with laughable flow rates, then change their website to make out I bought the wrong taps (they only backed down when I sent then screen shots of their website from the previous week!).
You can buy low pressure taps from places like wikes, but you normally have a choice of one very basic cheapo design, or a victorian style.
By low pressure I mean will give a proper flow from tank pressure. Most modern taps are ceramic quarter turn jobbies, and they are crap.
Most bathroom websites claim to have low pressure taps, but I can piss faster than they can deliver water. I've even had one supplier blatantly lie to me with laughable flow rates, then change their website to make out I bought the wrong taps (they only backed down when I sent then screen shots of their website from the previous week!).
You can buy low pressure taps from places like wikes, but you normally have a choice of one very basic cheapo design, or a victorian style.
zaphod42 said:
Try Crosswater (http://www.crosswater.co.uk/listing.php?id=100)
Low pressure denoted by (LP).
Are they actually low pressure though. I refurbed our main bathroom and specifically went for modern low pressure taps. The flow was piss poor, probably a third of the flow from the original taps. The supplier quoted flow rates that would out perform a fire truck, and i'm not exagerating. No matter how I tried to explain that there figure were impossible under any circumstances (ie above the maximum flow a 22mm pipe can deliver) they still insisted that these were the manufacturers figures, and I was some how in the wrong! I now hate the bathroom, and to replace the taps would mean smashing the recently tiled walls Low pressure denoted by (LP).
Most suppliers will say low pressure, when them mean you can get some water out of them. I need taps that will flow like a normal compression seal tap.
My brother recently spent 8k having his bathroom refurbed, and his taps are also crap. The plumber just said they are all like that now, like he was suposed to accept it as normal.
I'm now refurbing a second bathroom, and I will not make the same mistake again
When I was doing my bathroom in 2005 I just went into a couple of good plumbing/tap/bath shops and collected brochures. Most of them had some LP taps and some were perfectly nice, though all the really sexy ones are HP.
I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
Simpo Two said:
When I was doing my bathroom in 2005 I just went into a couple of good plumbing/tap/bath shops and collected brochures. Most of them had some LP taps and some were perfectly nice, though all the really sexy ones are HP.
I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
The original bathroom was on the ground floor, and I bought taps rated at for 0.2 bar. The suppilers later quoted me something like 20litres/second flow I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
. A standard bath is something like 170 litres, so you could fill a bath from one tap in less than 20 seconds. They would not accept that this was pure fantasy!All taps will have some flow regardless of pressure, so I'm very wary of taps rated for LP.
I want to avoid a pump as thats major work.
98elise said:
Simpo Two said:
When I was doing my bathroom in 2005 I just went into a couple of good plumbing/tap/bath shops and collected brochures. Most of them had some LP taps and some were perfectly nice, though all the really sexy ones are HP.
I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
The original bathroom was on the ground floor, and I bought taps rated at for 0.2 bar. The suppilers later quoted me something like 20litres/second flow I don't know if pressure ratings are standardised but the best way to judge is by the bar rating - 0.1 bar is the pressure from 1m head of water. So upstairs, when your bath tap may only be 2m below your water tank, you only have 0.2 bar. Therefore don't fit a tap rated at 0.5 bar! If you want sexy taps you'll need a pump, and that starts getting complicated...
. A standard bath is something like 170 litres, so you could fill a bath from one tap in less than 20 seconds. They would not accept that this was pure fantasy!All taps will have some flow regardless of pressure, so I'm very wary of taps rated for LP.
I want to avoid a pump as thats major work.
what planet are they on.20 l/sec is just a little ambitious! 20 l/min is more realistic.
Anything that uses the quarter turn ceramic cartridges is going to struggle to provide respectable flow as a bath filler at 0.2 bar.
Having a quick look at Bristan taps (they at least have the courtesy of providing flow data on their website), traditional bath fillers such as the 1901 range with a normal rising spindle type valve are getting flow rates of ~40 l/min at 0.2 bar. I would say from experience that that is a realistic figure for these taps. Similar bath fillers, but with more modern styling and quarter turn taps are only getting ~20 l/min. These figures are for both hot & cold open together.
Sadly form over function applies more and more to many tap designs. They might look great to start with, but performance for any house without an unvented tank is going to be inadequate, and that's before we get into the fun and games of trying to repair them a few years down the line.
You can't blame the manufacturers as long as people worry more about looks than performance (at least until they first use them). The last bathroom I did they insisted on using a particular tap based on looks/price despite warnings that flow rates weren't great for a low pressure system at ~8 l/min per tap. They now tend to shower more than bathe.
Anything that uses the quarter turn ceramic cartridges is going to struggle to provide respectable flow as a bath filler at 0.2 bar.
Having a quick look at Bristan taps (they at least have the courtesy of providing flow data on their website), traditional bath fillers such as the 1901 range with a normal rising spindle type valve are getting flow rates of ~40 l/min at 0.2 bar. I would say from experience that that is a realistic figure for these taps. Similar bath fillers, but with more modern styling and quarter turn taps are only getting ~20 l/min. These figures are for both hot & cold open together.
Sadly form over function applies more and more to many tap designs. They might look great to start with, but performance for any house without an unvented tank is going to be inadequate, and that's before we get into the fun and games of trying to repair them a few years down the line.
You can't blame the manufacturers as long as people worry more about looks than performance (at least until they first use them). The last bathroom I did they insisted on using a particular tap based on looks/price despite warnings that flow rates weren't great for a low pressure system at ~8 l/min per tap. They now tend to shower more than bathe.
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