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People bemoaning low flow don’t have experience with a good shower head. (Note: the author acknowledges this!) Highly recommend the Speakman brand of low-flow,

by namuol 2y ago

People bemoaning low flow don’t have experience with a good shower head. (Note: the author acknowledges this!) Highly recommend the Speakman brand of low-flow, high pressure shower heads. I learned of the brand while staying in a hotel that had a fantastic shower (compared to what I was used to) and bought a similar model immediately. I live in CA where my apartment has mandatory low flow, and I replaced the cheap 2.5gpm shower head with an even lower-flow 1.75gpm high pressure head and it was night and day better. When visiting my family in western NY suburbs, they have all high flow but low pressure shower heads, and it’s just not a very effective or satisfying shower after getting used to our shower head.

philwelch 2y ago
But I don’t want 1.75 gpm compressed into tiny high-pressure jets. I want (and have) a perfectly normal shower head except with the flow limiter ripped out and now the “mist” setting is a thick deluge of water while the high pressure jet settings are, if anything, uncomfortable. My counter recommendation is to grab a pair of needle nose pliers, take apart your shower head, find the blue plastic flow limiter, and yank it out. Or if you rent, buy a new showerhead and take it apart instead.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  Are they easy to take apart? I feel like many of them are made to resemble a single piece even if they aren’t. Are there brands built to be easy to work on?
  - philwelch 2y ago
    Mine’s a waterpik. I think I looked up a YouTube video (not brand or model specific) for how to identify and remove the flow limiter. It wasn’t hard at all.
  - avidiax 2y ago
    New ones no longer have the flow restrictor piece. I couldn't find instructions online to reduce the flow restriction, but I assume it involves drilling out a restrictor plate.
- Leftium 2y ago
  Delta shower heads work well at both 2.5 and 1.85 gpm. After installing in a shower that barely trickled straight down, the shower hits the far side of the tub. Any model with Delta's H2Okinetic system should work. The flow is amplified without increasing the pressure of individual water droplets. It feels like a "rain shower." https://kk.org/cooltools/delta-water-amplifying-showerheads/ https://kk.org/cooltools/delta-water-amplifying-showerheads/
  - philwelch 2y ago
    Your standards are tragically low if hitting the far side of the tub is impressive. I’m pretty sure if I stuck the wand out the shower door, my shower could hit the next room. (So I don’t do that.)
    - Leftium 2y ago
      I was trying to emphasize the performance of the Delta shower head despite very weak water pressure. With your water pressure, the Delta could very well hit two rooms away! (I'm not sure how the Delta scales with water pressure...)
- namuol 2y ago
  > My counter recommendation is to grab a pair of needle nose pliers, take apart your shower head, find the blue plastic flow limiter, and yank it out. I actually was going to do this when I bought my new shower head! I assumed that’s what the hotels do. But nope, I was satisfied without this. It might also just be that the flow in my apartment is lower regardless of fixture, which is why I opted for a shower head designed for low flow in the first place.
  - philwelch 2y ago
    Ever since fixing my showerhead I’m completely ruined for hotels, their showers are total garbage.
jasonpeacock 2y ago
But have you experienced a high flow _and_ high pressure shower head? Sooooo good. It makes you realize a low flow/high pressure shower head is a just a bunch of little needle jets that neither feel good nor adequately cover you in a deluge of water. While better than low flow/low pressure shower heads, they are still a joke.
- namuol 2y ago
  > a low flow/high pressure shower head is a just a bunch of little needle jets that neither feel good nor adequately cover you in a deluge of water This is the mark of a mediocre shower head. There’s something about Speakman shower heads that spread the individual streams in a much more satisfying way. They’re adjustable in a flexible/continuous manner, which may have something to do with it. As for the “deluge” - you’d be surprised how well ~2gpm can rinse with the right application of pressure/spread. Maybe I’m just not as sensitive to having a few square inches of my body not covered in sheets of water? I don’t need to be luxuriated with a veritable waterfall every day.
- maxglute 2y ago
  Yeah there's ok feeling accumpuncture low pressure shower heads. But dangerously high pressure shower head is like lying on bed of nails, acquired taste, pretty incredible feeling. My mom swore it maintained her skin better, my bro science is it's also better for skin... as in it bruises it like microneedling and forces skin to rejuvenate. Have to avoid getting shot in the eye on big nozzles though.

by namuol 2y ago

philwelch 2y ago

But I don’t want 1.75 gpm compressed into tiny high-pressure jets. I want (and have) a perfectly normal shower head except with the flow limiter ripped out and now the “mist” setting is a thick deluge of water while the high pressure jet settings are, if anything, uncomfortable. My counter recommendation is to grab a pair of needle nose pliers, take apart your shower head, find the blue plastic flow limiter, and yank it out. Or if you rent, buy a new showerhead and take it apart instead.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Are they easy to take apart? I feel like many of them are made to resemble a single piece even if they aren’t. Are there brands built to be easy to work on?
- philwelch 2y ago
  Mine’s a waterpik. I think I looked up a YouTube video (not brand or model specific) for how to identify and remove the flow limiter. It wasn’t hard at all.
- avidiax 2y ago
  New ones no longer have the flow restrictor piece. I couldn't find instructions online to reduce the flow restriction, but I assume it involves drilling out a restrictor plate.
Leftium 2y ago
Delta shower heads work well at both 2.5 and 1.85 gpm. After installing in a shower that barely trickled straight down, the shower hits the far side of the tub. Any model with Delta's H2Okinetic system should work. The flow is amplified without increasing the pressure of individual water droplets. It feels like a "rain shower." https://kk.org/cooltools/delta-water-amplifying-showerheads/ https://kk.org/cooltools/delta-water-amplifying-showerheads/
- philwelch 2y ago
  Your standards are tragically low if hitting the far side of the tub is impressive. I’m pretty sure if I stuck the wand out the shower door, my shower could hit the next room. (So I don’t do that.)
  - Leftium 2y ago
    I was trying to emphasize the performance of the Delta shower head despite very weak water pressure. With your water pressure, the Delta could very well hit two rooms away! (I'm not sure how the Delta scales with water pressure...)
namuol 2y ago
> My counter recommendation is to grab a pair of needle nose pliers, take apart your shower head, find the blue plastic flow limiter, and yank it out. I actually was going to do this when I bought my new shower head! I assumed that’s what the hotels do. But nope, I was satisfied without this. It might also just be that the flow in my apartment is lower regardless of fixture, which is why I opted for a shower head designed for low flow in the first place.
- philwelch 2y ago
  Ever since fixing my showerhead I’m completely ruined for hotels, their showers are total garbage.

jasonpeacock 2y ago

But have you experienced a high flow _and_ high pressure shower head? Sooooo good. It makes you realize a low flow/high pressure shower head is a just a bunch of little needle jets that neither feel good nor adequately cover you in a deluge of water. While better than low flow/low pressure shower heads, they are still a joke.

namuol 2y ago
> a low flow/high pressure shower head is a just a bunch of little needle jets that neither feel good nor adequately cover you in a deluge of water This is the mark of a mediocre shower head. There’s something about Speakman shower heads that spread the individual streams in a much more satisfying way. They’re adjustable in a flexible/continuous manner, which may have something to do with it. As for the “deluge” - you’d be surprised how well ~2gpm can rinse with the right application of pressure/spread. Maybe I’m just not as sensitive to having a few square inches of my body not covered in sheets of water? I don’t need to be luxuriated with a veritable waterfall every day.
maxglute 2y ago
Yeah there's ok feeling accumpuncture low pressure shower heads. But dangerously high pressure shower head is like lying on bed of nails, acquired taste, pretty incredible feeling. My mom swore it maintained her skin better, my bro science is it's also better for skin... as in it bruises it like microneedling and forces skin to rejuvenate. Have to avoid getting shot in the eye on big nozzles though.