Lidl Shower Special

mac25

Hello,

I noticed Lidl has a special on a shower and mixing tap this Thursday. The shower is 129.99 and the mixing tap is 29.99. I know the shower has come up as a special before and I was wondering if anybody reading has any experience of the shower or the tap? Is the quality any good? I heard you should get a thermostatic shower to avoid scalding, but I don't know if the shower mixer is thermostatic or not. Any advice would be appreciated as I need 2 showers and 3 taps for a new build. Thanks

Link to shower:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ie/hs.xsl/index_11785.htm?redLocaleAttr=or

Link to tap:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ie/hs.xsl/index_11823.htm

blindsider

mac25 wrote: »

Hello,

I noticed Lidl has a special on a shower and mixing tap this Thursday. The shower is 129.99 and the mixing tap is 29.99. I know the shower has come up as a special before and I was wondering if anybody reading has any experience of the shower or the tap? Is the quality any good? I heard you should get a thermostatic shower to avoid scalding, but I don't know if the shower mixer is thermostatic or not. Any advice would be appreciated as I need 2 showers and 3 taps for a new build. Thanks

Link to shower:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ie/hs.xsl/index_11785.htm?redLocaleAttr=or

Link to tap:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ie/hs.xsl/index_11823.htm

Mac,

I bought the older Lidl shower and very similar taps 2 yrs ago. Both work very well.

The shower I have is the previous model - don't have a pic, but it's maybe not as smart as the current one - that said, I'm more than happy with it - great hot and powerful shower everyday! We have solar panels and a pumped water system also.

I got a mixer set (thermostatic shower valve) to go with the shower unit (none supplied)from an online retailer. Google thermostatic shower valve- you'll get several options. (PM me if you want, but any of them are good I'd have thought - we spent no more than €120 on the mixer.)

The taps are excellent. Absolutely no issues with them after 2 yrs use, 3 small kids using them every day.

Hope this helps!

B.

sullzz

For any taps or showers that are for sale in either lild or aldi you need high pressure for them to work properly , if you don't have a pump fitted to serve where they are to be fitted forget about buying them

Joey the lips

Not suitable for low pressure water systems or over sink water heaters

Above as per website.

These generally are not suitable for ireland. Thats why the irish ones work out more expensive...ie a smaller market

They will generally work in apartments though as they are pumped.

however a word of caution low pressure in ireland is 0.02bar and in the uk and continent its 0.5 bar so check the actual rate of pressure.

mac25

Thanks for your responses. My plumber is recommending a 3 bar Grundfos Pump to pressurise the system, so I think I will be ok for the taps and shower. I hope the mixer tap on the shower is thermostatic, so I don't have to buy new mixers! I really like a bargain in Lidl, so I am very tempted. I can find very little info on line about the shower. I reckon I will visit Lidl on Thursday to get the taps and I will read the side of the box to see if the mixer is thermostatic or not. I will update the thread with what I find.

sullzz

If you are going for a 3bar pump make sure you have adequate hot water supply ie. Is your cylinder large enough , a 3bar pump will empty a standard sized cylinder quickly , just mention it to your plumber .

Joey the lips

sullzz wrote: »

If you are going for a 3bar pump make sure you have adequate hot water supply ie. Is your cylinder large enough , a 3bar pump will empty a standard sized cylinder quickly , just mention it to your plumber .

Exactly my thoughts.

What is going to happen here is you are going to buy something because it apears to be good and cheap bargin. By the end of the exercise you will have forked out over 1-1.5 k(new cylinder 42x18 indirect 300 euro fitting of cylinder 600 euro new pump 3 bar grundfos 400 euro )

My sugestion would be to get your hands on a hudson reed house of amber catalogue. A lot of these showers work at low pressure so they have a good range. By low pressure i mean what i said above. Not the UK version of low pressure and dont use the online catalogue as this is a uk one.


For a standard irish gravity system you should not use a shower head over 6" as it puts too much of a draw on the cylinder.

mac25

I intend putting the new Lidl showers and taps into a new build house. I am getting solar water heating, so the plumber has specified a 300 litre cylinder and a 3 bar pump. It sounds like the taps and shower will be compatible with the new system. Now I'm wondering just how quickly the lidl shower with the 23.5 cm shower head and 3 bar pump will empty the cylinder!

Joey the lips

mac25 wrote: »

I intend putting the new Lidl showers and taps into a new build house. I am getting solar water heating, so the plumber has specified a 300 litre cylinder and a 3 bar pump. It sounds like the taps and shower will be compatible with the new system. Now I'm wondering just how quickly the lidl shower with the 23.5 cm shower head and 3 bar pump will empty the cylinder!

See now your giving more information we did not know.

In this application it will work fine. I cannot remember the flow rate on a 3 bar pump and you will need to know the flow rate of the shower as well

but from experience you should be fine.

no harm in having a backup T90 or mira elite 2 in one of the bathrooms.

HPT

Just my 2 cents here...

I bought single lever mixer taps for my bathrooms from an Irish plumbing supplies place. They were only around €20 and they look very nice and work well with my pressurised system. The only problem I have with them is that they're quite noisy. I have partially closed the isolating valves to reduce the flow to each tap and this makes them a bit quieter.

I would consider changing them to a higher quality tap that would make less noise.
@ blindsider Are the taps noisy at all?

mac25

Joey the lips wrote: »

See now your giving more information we did not know.

In this application it will work fine. I cannot remember the flow rate on a 3 bar pump and you will need to know the flow rate of the shower as well

but from experience you should be fine.

no harm in having a backup T90 or mira elite 2 in one of the bathrooms.

Thanks Joey. Good thinking about the backup electric shower. I'll ask my plumber to put one in.

paddy147

Joey the lips wrote: »

no harm in having a backup T90 or mira elite 2 in one of the bathrooms.

+1 to the above.:)

Thats what I did with my solar system.Solar/tank fed Rainfall shower in the ensuite and Mira Advance thermostatic electric shower in the bathroom,

Best of both worlds this way.:)

paddy147

Lidl mixer taps opperate on a minimum of 0.5 bar and max of 3 bar.

Heres the the specs from the instrution manual.:)

So are these mixer taps suitable for Irish use (normal bathroom sink tap) then or not???:

paddy147

Lidl also have 2 meter long stainless steel shower hoses for 5 euro.

They aint plastic effect hoses either,they are propper steel flexi shower hoses.

I bought 2 of them

Very sturdy and fit my Mira Advance Shower perfectly too.No leaks at all,and shower works fine off it.

And to think that I was going to pay the gutts of 25 euro for a 1.75 meter hose from Mira or Triton

mac25

I purchased 2 Dusar showers and 3 Miomare taps in Lidl today and I thought I would let people know my thoughts on them.

I am not a plumber, so my opinions need to be taken with a pinch of salt, they are merely my observations on looking at the items out of the box. I have not installed either the taps or the showers at this stage as I am not at that stage in my new build.

The tap appears to be very good quality to me. It feels quite heavy and the chrome finish is good. The lever also appears to have a quality action. The tap comes with the hoses and the plug unit. The minimum water pressure required according to the manual is .5 bar and the maximum is 3 bar. This means you will need pumped water if you intend on buying. I have included a picture for those interested.

The shower appears to be reasonable quality. The main shower head and hand held shower head are made of plastic with a chrome effect finish. You would not know it was not real chrome without picking it up and tapping it. The underside of the main shower head is also plastic without the chrome finish. See the attached picture to get an idea of the finish. The remaining shower attachments on the aluminum column are also plastic with the chrome effect finish. I will say that the hand held shower head slider appears to be reasonably strong as the hand held shower head appears to be firmly held in the adjustable holder. I really hate showers where the hand held shower head unit slips down and showers water on your feet and not your head because the holder is not strong enough to hold it in position. The shower column wall fixings are also in the chrome effect plastic. The plastic looks reasonably strong, but I would have preferred a metal wall fixing. Time will tell if they are strong enough to keep the shower in place! The minimum water pressure required according to the manual is 2.5 bar and the maximum is 4 bar. One last thing, there is no mixer tap included with the shower unit. Looking at the picture on the Lidl web site, you would think that it was included when in fact it's not.

To sum up, I am happy with my purchase and I'm looking forward to installing the showers and taps and giving them a real test. The price was certainly right! Did I say I love a bargain at Lidl!

I can't seem to upload the picture attachments at the moment. I will try again later..

paddy147

mac25 wrote: »

I purchased 2 Dusar showers and 3 Miomare taps in Lidl today and I thought I would let people know my thoughts on them.

I am not a plumber, so my opinions need to be taken with a pinch of salt, they are merely my observations on looking at the items out of the box. I have not installed either the taps or the showers at this stage as I am not at that stage in my new build.

The tap appears to be very good quality to me. It feels quite heavy and the chrome finish is good. The lever also appears to have a quality action. The tap comes with the hoses and the plug unit. The minimum water pressure required according to the manual is .5 bar and the maximum is 3 bar. This means you will need pumped water if you intend on buying. I have included a picture for those interested.

The shower appears to be reasonable quality. The main shower head and hand held shower head are made of plastic with a chrome effect finish. You would not know it was not real chrome without picking it up and tapping it. The underside of the main shower head is also plastic without the chrome finish. See the attached picture to get an idea of the finish. The remaining shower attachments on the aluminum column are also plastic with the chrome effect finish. I will say that the hand held shower head slider appears to be reasonably strong as the hand held shower head appears to be firmly held in the adjustable holder. I really hate showers where the hand held shower head unit slips down and showers water on your feet and not your head because the holder is not strong enough to hold it in position. The shower column wall fixings are also in the chrome effect plastic. The plastic looks reasonably strong, but I would have preferred a metal wall fixing. Time will tell if they are strong enough to keep the shower in place! The minimum water pressure required according to the manual is 2.5 bar and the maximum is 4 bar. One last thing, there is no mixer tap included with the shower unit. Looking at the picture on the Lidl web site, you would think that it was included when in fact it's not.

To sum up, I am happy with my purchase and I'm looking forward to installing the showers and taps and giving them a real test. The price was certainly right! Did I say I love a bargain at Lidl!

I can't seem to upload the picture attachments at the moment. I will try again later..

Very easy to post pics.see my 3 pics above.:)

mac25

I still can't upload the pictures of the shower and tap. I keep getting "service unavailable" at the end of the upload process. Mods, can you help? Thanks

paddy147

mac25 wrote: »

I still can't upload the pictures of the shower and tap. I keep getting "service unavailable" at the end of the upload process. Mods, can you help? Thanks

Your pictures are too big to upload then,you need to downsize them to around 1mb or less to upload..