Despite our full support of the water saving shower heads that pelt your hide like beebees, we long ago switched our home shower to the easily attachable (affordable) large overhead model like the one at right (now we have a permanent one).
When we take a shower, we want full immersion. These larger showerheads swivel right up over your head and drop a lot of water on your for full cleaning (and cooling in this hot weather!). For those commenters who worry about lessening pressure, we've never had a problem. Eric must be right that the arm reduces the diameter and so that the pressure is still good...
We have found them by many names at a number of hardware stores. Online we found models at:
Do you need really high water pressure to use one of those shower heads?
I second toby here - will my 5,000-yr-old tenement plumbing support such a luxury?
the big question is how much one of these babies will cost:
http://www.dornbracht.com/en/index.htm?nav=1192&cid=302&id=3040
Ah, this brings back memories of when I moved into a studio in Tudor City in 1982. The bathroom was wonderful, all original to 1927: white tile on the walls and gray and white tile on the floor. A full window, too, looking west, out to the Chrysler Building. But the best part was having a shower head similar to the one pictured, only not as shiny, and wonderful water pressure.
My experience is that the articulated arm such as in the photo reduces water pressure by about 1/3 (unscientific data!). Whereas standard shower pipes are 5/8" or so (maybe 3/4"), the arm has pipes of maybe 1/2" at the most with two corners to pass water through. Also, if it is the same as mine, the joints leak a bit unless the elbow bolts are tightened down. There are S-shaped replacement shower pipes for the wall section, and my current project is to see whether these can be grafted onto existing shower pipes for consistent water pressure or if I will need to replace the wall-pipe with it. All in all, though, I'd never go back to a small shower head, even with the articulated arm!
I live in a 1920s building, have a similar showerhead, and there's no problem. However, I must say - it really differs from a more "direct" type of head in terms of your shower experience. It's much gentler - sometimes I like it, but sometimes I just want a good, forceful, butch shower.
Ohh, if only. One of the various ways in which my 100-year-old tenement cave dwelling sucks is the kind of water pressure in the shower that you'd find on Gilligan's Island or M*A*S*H.
Come to think of it, Loretta Swit *would* have made a great castaway...
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I have this shower head. I bought it at Big Lots for $6.99. It has been installed for about 2 years and still looks and works great. (I admit, I removed the "low flow" thingy since frankly if you live at the convergence of the Missouri and Mississippi there's plenty of water!)
Don't spend big money on one of these. It's not necessary.
view Kurt's profile
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view olya's profile
Having gone from a showerhead on a hose attachment which fixed to the wall to this, I preferred the old option.
Reason: it's easier to clean the tub. I can't get much of a spectrum of movement from a showerhead like this, so have to go nuts with a pitcher to rinse off cleanser. Pain in the rear, really.
view Valerie's profile
I picked up one about a year and a half ago from Overstock.com and love it. I believe it's this one...
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?page=proframe&prod_id=495925&IID=prod495925
view Rob's profile
I have had one of these shower heads for about 10 years. I wouldn't use anything else. It feels like being in a rain shower.
It does use a lot of water, however. If you don't have a big hot water tank your shower could be mighty short! I just keep the water turned down as low as possible and I can take a nice, long hot shower.
view RegularNut's profile
a showerhead like this saved me from breaking down when we moved into our new apartment. It's a gorgeous old brownstone out in Bay Ridge, but, I think someone did a terrible thing to the bathroom decades ago. The ceiling in the shower is about 6 1/2 feet high, and the showerhead was set in about 1 foot below that, which, considering both the boyfriend and I around about 6' tall, means the water hit somewhere around the level of our shoulders.
On the first morning I showered before work I became so frustrated I actually ripped the showerhead off the pipe. I got one of these at BB&B and have showered happy every morning since.
view ann's profile
I really don't care for the "rain shower" style and prefer something with a firm "pelting" water. Could anyone recommend a shower head combo with a separate hand shower attachment? One that won't require hiring a plumber to knock a hole in the tiled wall.
view jimkk's profile
Does this type of showerhead require that your head is under the water the whole shower? Would I like it if I only like to get my head wet to wash my hair and face?
view scrappy25's profile
We love the look and feel of the large shower heads. I guess we felt a little guilty for using more water in the shower than needed, so we installed those new on/off aerators. They come in bath and kitchen versions, and they have a neat shower switch for use when soaping up. I don't think the shower swtich will work on the one pictured, but it does for most showers. You can see them at www.droughtbusters.org.
view Russell's profile