Abacus Bathrooms Showers

Abacus Shower Fittings

Your fixtures and fittings play a crucial role in how your finished bathroom looks and performs. These choices may seem smaller in the grand scheme of things, but they play a crucial role in your new room. It can often feel overwhelming choosing what to have when there's so much on the market. This is why we only stock the absolute best of what is available with a carefully curated selection of choices. Abacus is one of the top manufacturers of shower fittings and is a popular choice for customers.

The company is innovative and has a wide range of options available to you, including their Emotion range, their Temptation range, and Emotion Plus - all including a wide array of design styles and combinations. From shower valves to shower heads, shower arms to shower outlets, shower kits to shower rail kits, there are plenty of options to explore.

We're thrilled to work alongside Abacus given the high-quality finish of their products and the exceptional standards they meet for their customers. They are a widely recognised brand who sell everything from sanitaryware and furniture to taps and brassware, baths and shower trays to heating, and more. You can quite easily kit your entire bathroom out in Abacus, which means a seamless design style and a luxury finish throughout. If you have any questions about the range, do get in touch to discuss further or to look through the full Abacus catalogue.

Key considerations

So, where do you begin? A good starting point is always your budget. It's important to identify how much you are able to spend, as you can quickly rule out any unaffordable fittings. You'll need to think about everything the bathroom contains when putting this budget together, including taps, toilet roll holders, shower rails, mirrors, shower trays and any other accessories. Make sure your list is as comprehensive as possible so there are no unexpected surprises. You'll also need to cost out someone fitting the items for you if you're not planning on doing this yourself.

Then it comes down to what sort of experience you're looking for. Would you like your shower to offer powerful bursts of water or are you more inclined towards the soft rainwater feel? Do you want the shower head to be direct in its spurt, or do you prefer it to be more relaxed in where it falls? Have you got space to have more than one shower head option?

Would you prefer something that is attached to the wall, fixed on the ceiling, or that sits on a hook lower down? This will all help you identify what shower fittings are right for you, and what range you should be looking at.

There are also considerations regarding design to be made. If your bathroom has a modern approach, some designs may suit it better than others. On the other hand, if you've gone for something more traditional, a modern design could look out of place. You need to consider what the rest of your bathroom is like. Are your other accessories squared off or circular? Do you have lots of angular edges or is it a lot softer, with various rounded corners? Considering what your design aesthetic is like overall will ensure you pick something that works harmoniously with space and doesn't feel overly contrasting.

Shower Valves

Shower valves are the part that is fixed to the wall that enables you to turn the water on and off, as well as determine the pressure, temperature or location that you would like the water to come out at. These come in different designs, meaning you can make the decision based on your aesthetic preferences. They range from 1, 2 or 3 outlets as well allowing control over just a single shower head right up to a deluge with hand shower that can also fill the bath as well if required.

Their thermostatic engineering allows full control over water temperature, keeping it at a precise level. If the water supply cuts off, the flow is halted in a split second so you would not be scalded by such an incident.

Showerheads

Abacus offers a range of shower head choices with all three of their ranges - Emotion, Temptation and Emotion Plus. From wall-mounted shower heads in stainless steel to built-in shower heads, fixed round chrome shower heads to slimline round chrome hand shower heads - the choice is yours. It's always best to consider how much space you have, how the water will be protected from going everywhere (e.g. glass screens) and what sort of showering experience you would like.

Shower arms

Abacus supply a wide range of shower arms that will attach either to the wall or ceiling. Fitted with a standard connecting thread, they allow the shower head to be positioned away from the wall pushing the water out into the showering area. Several are adjustable with a ball joint on the end. A choice of styles can be chosen with round or square profiles to match the showering heads giving a co-ordinated look.

Slide rail kits

If you only have one shower head, typically you will opt for a slide rail kit. This is a rail that is fixed to the wall in your bathroom with a shower head connected to it through a small attachment that goes up and down the rail. This can be particularly beneficial if you have children or people of different heights in your house.

It allows you to find the perfect spot for your shower head based on your height and means you can get a more powerful aim with your water. It stops water spraying everywhere unnecessarily and offers a more bespoke bathing experience. There is a range of different options to choose from, with slimline heads as well as larger circular choices.

Shower kits

To keep everything looking perfectly matched and to make your life much easier, you can opt for a shower kit that includes everything you will need to get your shower fixed and ready. This will include the shower-head, column or arm - plus the valve and other key pieces. These kits can sometimes help you to make great savings and are an ideal way to ensure you have everything you need without waiting for extra parts. They're simple, effective, high quality and elegant.

Water pressure

When buying shower fittings, it is also important to consider what water pressure you are looking to achieve. You need to be able to match this with your water system to get the best results from your shower. If you get the match right, you will experience a fantastic performance. However, if you don't then you may find your shower runs frustratingly slowly. It could also cause your hot and cold water to run at different flow rates, and this can make it difficult to get a comfortable temperature.

The key to getting the water pressure right is identifying what type of system you have in your home. Your water pressure system is made up of both water storage tanks and a boiler. This varies from house to house, so some homes have no water tank but still have a boiler, while others possibly won't have a boiler but could have either a hot and/or cold water tank.

If you have got a cold water tank positioned in your loft and then a hot water cylinder somewhere else in your house (typically your airing cupboard), this means you will have a low-pressure water system. These systems are called 'gravity-fed' and you'll need shower fittings that work for low-pressure. If you have a combination boiler, you'll have a high-pressure vented water system. You'll typically find your boiler in your kitchen on the wall and won't have storage tanks for your water.

With high-pressure systems, most fittings will work with it so you have more flexibility on what you choose and won't need to worry so much. If you only have a hot water tank (no cold), then you have a high-pressure unvented water system. Typically this will be found in your airing cupboard, and again you will have the choice of most fitting options.

Water pressure is measured using a bar. Most fittings are high-pressure of 0.1 bar and above. This is roughly equivalent to 1.45pa of pressure. If a fitting is less than 0.1 bar, it is considered low-pressure. You can work out the water pressure in your home by measuring the height from the lowest point of your water tank to the outlet of your tap. You'll need to do this in metres, and it may involve going through different rooms (i.e. to the ceiling of one room and from the floor in your loft). Establish a total amount of metres for the distance - it doesn't have to be spot on, but as close as you can get it. Anything above 1 metre is considered high-pressure, with 2 metres offering 0.2 bar of water pressure, and increasing by one bar for every additional metre.

You will be able to find more details about the suitability of the product in its individual description, in which the water pressure will be clearly labelled.