I stayed at the Hilton this weekend and they had a wonderful showerhead made by Speakman.

On the way home I picked one up and installed and was disappointed because the water pressure in my home was much lower than the hotel.

Is there anyway to increase the water pressure to a shower?

 

It's been awhile since I looked at a showerhead but I bet it has some kind of low flow device in it. See if you can pop it out

 

^
Thanks. there is a little donut washer in the inside of the shower head that I popped out. Increased pressure a little but no where near as forceful as the hilton. Oh well. Back to lowes it goes.

 

Your house may just have shitty watter pressure. Our basement shower is the only one that is actually forceful, if you turn our kitchen faucet upside down it goes up about 3 inches. My grandparents same faucet shoots water about 2 feet(this is not on spray mode mind you) and even they claim poor water pressure.

There are water pressure boost systems out there, but they cost a pretty penny.

Mike

 

I found this water booster For the plumbers out there is this a DIY project?

 

The house was built in 2002 so it is pretty new. The pressure is good througout all of the faucets and outside hoses. It's just not the full blast ala pressure washer that we got in the Hilton.

Is there no device on the market that acts like putting your thumb over a hose to increase the pressure? I just want high pressure for the shower.

 

The good news is if its newer the pressure loss likely isn't because of crap in the pipes.

Water boosters are a DIY project if you know how to do plumbing... and electrical work, while keeping it in code (which can be done). The equipment itself is more or less expensive, and I would suggest researching what would work best.

Now in terms of putting your finger over the hose, what you are doing is constricting flow so it comes out faster from a smaller opening. A smaller shower head would output higher pressure with less volume.

Mike

 

Thanks for the insight

 

how is the water pressure out of the shower fauct part? If thats low then you need to have your water pressure increased, your water company might be able to help you out there. Other wise pop of the little rubber (very small) rubber band looking washer, and you'll be good to go.

 

I hate showers with bad water pressure. I have a Waterpik and it is just wonderful. But that is only because I took out the washer and my water pressure is awesome. I used the same showerhead at another house and it just isn't the same. A good hot and powerful shower > *

 

I would have guessed bad pipes but your house is pretty new. My parents redid both bathrooms on the main floor and pulled all the pipes and installed new ones. Increased the water pressure to the house 3 or 4 times what it was before. Basically all the crap in the pipes slowed the pressure.

The house also has a pressure reducer on the main line (or whatever its called, I know every little about plumbing) so you might want to see if your house has one and if it is possible to remove.

 

This may be a silly question, but do you have a water filter in the basement?

Like a whole home filter? If you do, you may just need to replace the filter. We have one as well as a water softener (we are on a well) and replace the filter every month or two. There is a noticeable decrease in pressure before the change and obviously a noticeable increase after changing it.

 

I dunno where you live, but here (NC) the newer homes (like mine) have a device - whose name escapes me at the moment - that is meant to provide consistent pressure. In other words, I can run 2 showers, the dishwasher, the sprinkler system outside, the laundry, flush a toilet.......and have full pressure in all of the above. I'm not kidding - we've had that exact scenario more than once.

Point here - this device (pressure regulator??) is under my house in my crawlspace , and with a few turns of the screw you can increase or decrease the regulated pressure throughout the house. Problem is, you are increasing the pressure in the pipes ALL of the time - they are only rated/tested for so many PSI, so it's not the best idea to go full-barrel or you'll end up with leaks where you weren't expecting it. You definitely don't want the full pressure that you get from the street rolling into your house (I'm presuming you run on city water in this scenario - if you're on a well then YMMV).

I still have crappy shower pressure. However, after removing the washers/etc in my shower head (ours came from Bed-Bath-Beyond), and making a few turns to the screws, it has improved ten-fold compared to how it was when I moved in. But I've stayed at Hiltons/Westin's on business, and their showers are ALWAYS better than what you'll see at home. I guess it's the amount of pressure they can push safely through their pipes.

Hope this helps.

 

I did a test and the shower puts out about 2 gallons a minute. This is a stand up shower and not a shower/tub. The seperate tub in the same room puts out about 4 gallons a minute so my non plumbing brain is thinking that the diameter of piping for the showe is smaller in this shower than the tub.

We do have a water regulator in the garage so I will check and see if it has some adjustment settings.

 

we do not have a basement.

 

Thanks. I am checking the above options out. I am going to have a plumber come in next month and see if there is something that can be done. The wife thinks I am nuts but I am the type that does not take no for an answer and I feel if a hotel can do it why can we not get the same results at home.

 

Go to your local hardware store, Home Depot, or Lowes and pick up a water pressure gauge (should cost less than $10). All you do is screw it onto a spigot and turn on the faucet (run some water through the faucet first so that any air is purged). Your household water pressure should be between 45 and 60 PSI. Higher pressures can cause appliances to fail prematurely (dish washer, washing machine, etc.) and greatly increases the chances of a burst/leaking pipe or hose. If the pressure is low, you'll probably find a water regulator installed near where the water line enters the house. The regulator will have a screw or bolt which allows the pressure to be adjusted. It seems hotels/motels either have really low pressure or really high pressure...nothing in between. I hear some hotels run the pressure at 100 PSI.

 

Mine was 50PSI when I tested before I installed my sprinker system at the spigot - go to that section of Lowes to find the device DanL mentions. I ended up bumping mine to right at 60PSI. I hadn't considered issues with appliances - great point.

 

sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm having this exact problem right now. I've had to move home to be with mom cuz my dad passed away in January, and the one thing I've been dreading is the showers in my parents' house... anyway, when you say "water regulator installed near where the water line enters the house." Where would I look for that? Side of the house? By the sidewalk?

 

My house is on a crawl, so it was actually UNDER the house, buried in insulation and between some joists. Find where the waterline enters (can't help you there), and follow it. You should see a regulator at some point, it's about twice the size of your fist if memory serves. There is a screw underneath you can use to turn the pressure up or down. You NEED to be careful - too much pressure can cause problems with pipes, so buy one of those devices to check the current pressure so you can tell what affect you are having by turning those screws.
2 points to address here:
1. If the house is old, I doubt you have one. If you flush a toilet and run the sink do you lose pressure in other places? If you do, you don't have a regulator. If you don't and it all holds pretty steady, then you likely do.
2. It may simply be the showerheads that need to be replaced. All new showerheads are "low flow" and only allow very few gallons per minute. Go buy a new one (or look at the old one) and see if you can remove the little piece of plastic that has a small hole (or series of holes) that limits the amount of water.

 

okay, so for future reference... anyone having poor or low pressure with their showers... try this first. See if the faucets have decent pressue... cuz after about 2 seconds of thinking I realized the problem wasn't the water pressure... I took the shower head off and sure enough it had a plastic piece in there... why? I have no idea... but it was limiting the flow of water. I had problems gettin' that piece out, so I was over it... went to Lowe's and got a new one but made sure it didn't have that plastic piece in there... got home popped the thing in and now I'm enjoying taking showers again.

So, if you're having the same problem... you may not need the pressure booster or even hunt down the regulator thingy... look inside the shower head first.

 

Cool Sorry to hear about the passing of your father.....

 

Same thing applies to faucets with aerators- little rocks and debris will clog up faucet nozzles so that only a trickle will come through. Every time I encountered a low-flow faucet or shower head issue (usually in hotels), it was actually debris in the nozzle/head.