Like many others, I used to love my rain shower. It felt relaxing. I always thought of my rainshowers as a pleasant comfort that I could indulge in in my own home.
After a long day of work, I could come home to a powerful and invigorating water massage. At $400+, it was an affordable luxury that was within my reach, every day.
But after many months of using a rainshower, the novelty has worn off. Here is what I didn’t know about rainshowers before and what I discovered later.
1. Rainshowers have less water pressure than hand-held showers
My rain shower came as a set. It is a single system with a mixer, diverter, and hand shower combined. This means I get to do a fair comparison between two types of shower heads.
You would think, bigger shower head, more water pressure, right? Wrong. Surprisingly, my hand held shower gives me more water pressure.
Let’s think about it for a second. With a bigger shower head surface area, water pressure is spread out over a larger area. The larger spray pattern causes the overall pressure to drop.
I have long hair and consistent and strong water pressure is important to me. It helps get all the soap out of my hair fast, and cuts down the shower time! Believe me, it takes longer to wash the soap out of my hair with a rain shower than with a hand shower.
2. Rainshowers drain your water heater tank faster
Bet you didn’t know this, but I actually timed how long it took to drain my heater tank. With the hand shower, it took 6 minutes. But with the rain shower, all my hot water was gone in 4 minutes!
Not a fan of standing under cold water? Then you have to pick up your shower speed if you choose to use a rain shower.
Rainshowers run at about 10 lit/min.
Compare that to hand showers, which are 7 lit/min. No wonder a nice rain shower session can use up all the hot water so fast.
This also means rainshowers burn more energy. Consumption is measured by the total volume of hot water we use. I save more going through 30 lit of hot water versus going through 50 lit of hot water.
If I can use less every day, my savings will stack up and my bank account will thank me later.
3. The Rainshower angle has limited flexibility
Many of you already know about the rainshower’s fixed overhead angle. But let me tell you how it makes daily tasks harder.
I have a pet dog and need to give it a bath every week. There is no way I can use that rainshower. I’ll get myself all drenched struggling with a dog and water coming from the top!
Another inconvenience? It is almost impossible to avoid getting my hair wet, even on the days I want to avoid washing my hair. Even with a shower cap, it isn’t easy. Having water fall directly on your shower cap is noisy and awkward. Might as well take a full shower now.
Bonus tip: the hand shower is great for doing a quick rinse of the floor and walls after a shower. I don’t like leaving the place soapy and slippery. A rainshower can’t do that for you.
4. Ever had a rain showers drip cold water on you?
There is always some balance water in the rain shower. Even if you don’t use a rain shower, this can come from the person who used the shower before you.
The thing that really throws me off is how I can be taking one of my famously long and hot showers, when drip drip.. two drops of awfully cold water sprinkle down on my head out of nowhere!
That’s the balance water in the rain shower dripping down on you. There is nothing you can do about this! It is natural, just like gravity is natural. But it sure feels weird.
This can happen at home, or even at a hotel. Sometimes it happens if you are drying yourself off in the shower area, under the rain shower. For this reason I always try to dry off without a rain shower head above me. It is worse in winter countries when those droplets are ice cold.
5. For a rainshower to run well, you must use a storage heater
This means you are limited to your choice of heater. You can’t go for a water saving heater like the BathBox. You must make room for a large storage tank water heater.
For some, this is ok because they can hide the heater above a false ceiling. For those in HDB, you have to put up with a huge tank in the bathroom.
If you don’t already have a storage heater, I will suggest not considering the rain shower at all. Upgrading from an instant to a storage heater is a massive job. Lots of pipe work, drilling, and dust. It does not make sense to undergo this major renovation especially if you are already living-in.
It makes sense to upgrade to a rain shower if you are doing a major reno.
6. No one told me how hard it was to clean a rainshower
Rainshower FAQ
What height should a rainshower be installed at?
A rain showerhead should be installed at a height of 200 cm from the shower floor. If you are not sure, there should be a height suggestion in the instruction manual.
If there are tall people at home, the rain shower head should be 10 - 15 cm above their height.
Don’t fix a rain shower too high up! You’ll find that the water will feel colder coming down. The higher up the shower head goes, you will have even less control over the water spray as it comes down.
What kind of heater goes well with a rainshower?
A storage water heater, or any heater with a big tank. Heaters with a big tank are high pressure systems and the rain shower will love it.
Don’t go for gas heaters, instant heaters or any tankless models. The water pressure output on those heaters are too low. Your rain shower will become a rain drizzle.
What happens if I don’t clean my rainshower?
There will be a buildup of scale from minerals and calcium found in water. This can block the rain shower water holes and cause the flow of water to be uneven.
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