Bathroom Shower Installation: Choosing The Perfect Shower For Your Bathroom - Ability Bathe Bathrooms Devon (2024)

Ability Bathe | June 14, 2024

Not sure whether a shower installation is right for your bathroom?

Perhaps you’ve made your mind up but can’t decide between mixers, digital, smart and walk-in showers?

Or do you know which type you want but can’t decide how to make your shower room stand out? No matter what you’re looking for, let us help you make the right shower installation choice.

Nearly two thirds (64%) prefer taking a shower over having a bath, according to a recent survey found in Professional Heating & Plumbing Installer (PHPI) magazine.

It makes sense. While a bath is arguably more relaxing, a shower is more likely to fit in a wider variety of bathroom shapes and sizes.

There are other benefits to showers too and we’ll cover these later in the article.

Shower room ideas

First of all, let’s take a look at a broad range of shower room ideas, from the highly practical and accessible to some bold, striking design choices!

• Install a shower seat: Make shower time easier and more relaxing by installing a shower seat, rails or other accessibility aids.
• Make it a wet room: An unenclosed walk-in shower can also function as a modern wet room – the entire space is a waterproof area for washing and relaxing. For more details on this last idea, read our guide on what a wet room is and how to clean the floor.
• Create an ensuite shower room: Sometimes there isn’t enough space next to a bedroom for an ensuite bathroom with a tub, but there is for a shower. If so, make it an ensuite shower room.
• Replicate an outdoor shower: If you cover the bathroom with plants, you can pretend you’re showering in an exclusive rainforest! With a powerful rain shower head you can also create the feeling of showering under a waterfall.
• Design a spa-style shower room: Go to the spa or gym in a fancy hotel and you’ll find a premium shower room. It’ll have large mirrors, white lights, dual sinks, a monochrome colour scheme… Why not copy the style?
• Put a shower room in the attic: If you have a loft but don’t have enough bathrooms, there may be a solution. Here are our loft bathroom ideas.

Looking for some more ideas? Here are 12 shower room ideas to inspire you.

Types of showers

As you can see, there are lots of different possibilities for the space itself. But which type of shower should you choose to put in the room?

Here are some of the most popular types of showers:

• Mixer showers: Mixer showers combine hot and cold water supplies so you can set the temperature easily. They require a hot and cold water supply – if your boiler isn’t turned on, there may not be any warm water in your shower.
• Electric showers: Electric showers only need a cold water supply, so they’re not dependent on your boiler. An electrical heating element within the shower enclosure provides the warm water.
• Power showers: The unique feature is an in-built shower pump to increase the hot and cold water flow. Power showers are a good option for homes with low water pressure.
• Thermostatic showers: Thermostatic showers keep the temperature extremely consistent, with its valve reacting quickly if there’s a sudden change to the supply, e.g. if someone turns another tap on, to prevent scalding.
• Digital showers: With digital showers, you can set your ideal temperature and flow rate at the touch of a button, then check them on a digital screen.
• Smart showers: Similar to digital showers, you can customise everything via a digital device, even a smartphone or tablet. These smart showers tend to feature in a wider smart home ecosystem – for example, Apple or Google Home.
• Walk-in showers: Walk-in showers are among the most accessible and hygienic options available. You can also have a walk-in shower that’s electric, digital, smart, electric and so on.

We’ve written a comprehensive guide on the full list of benefits and how much a walk-in shower costs.

Final thoughts: Replacing a bath with a shower installation

Lastly, if you already have a bathtub in the room and can’t decide if it’s worth replacing it with a shower installation, rest assured that there are plenty of advantages.

Not only will it create more space in the room, but a shower uses much less water, is easier to get into and takes less time to use. For more information, read our comprehensive guide on replacing a bath with a shower.

We are Ability Bathe – experts in bathroom design, shower installations and all the different trades required.

We specialise in walk-in showers for Cornwall and far beyond, with more than 35 years of experience.So, if you’re looking for shower installation services or bathroom fitters in Devon, Bristol or the South-West in general, please get in touch with Ability Bathe!

TAGS: New Installations, showers, Walk-in showers