Hello AT,
I have been involved in an obsessive search for a powerful yet affordable hand-held shower head for much too long now. I need advice. Some people tell me that the shower head has no effect on water pressure. But I have had different experiences in the past with shower heads. All I want is a good hand held shower head with strong pressure...
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I have a Dornbracht, which I mount on a bar so it also serves as an adjustable mounted shower head. It is great, with adjustable pressure, however, not cheap. I counsel against porcelain if you are going to be standing up while using it-- drop it, and you may break the porcelain and also crack your bathtub finish...
I swear by the Earth Massage showerhead by Niagara Conservation. I got it thru our local power company and it really helped out. Our upstairs shower had really low pressure and this seemed to fix it. Plus it helps conserve water and energy.
Grohe makes great handheld shower heads (see link with my name) - my choice hands down. Personally, I am planning on installing the freehander which is not handheld but pretty fabulous. Sadly the designs aren't as chic as Dornbracht. However, the quality of grohe is better in my opinion.
If you decide to get one, one word of caution - have someone help you with the order that knows the system (they have good help if you call customer service) as it is not at all clear on-line or in their product binders what parts are required and everything seems to be sold separately. It's frustrating to have something arrive and figure out 5 frustrating hours later that you are missing something.
Hope this helps!
Thanks everyone for your great feedback. It's been a huge help.
Thanks again.
I love love love our Brookstone handheld shower head.
http://www.brookstone.com/store/product.asp?wid=10&cid=1003&sid=100301&pid=234716
It's seriously inexpensive, really durable, and the pressure is AMAZING.
There's a lot more to a good shower head than just pressure. The design firm Design Continuum did some amazing work on the Moen Revolution...
http://www.dcontinuum.com/content/portfolio/0/227/
I like the length of this cord (84"). Good for cleaning shower stall. I have been looking for one too. I have narrowed it down to this one and the one from Brookstone. Good luck!
On Dornbracht v. Grohe-- my german contractor told me that Dornbracht is the best not because of the groovy design, but because of the quality. The ceramic discs mean that the faucets will never drip. After 5 years, he's right on that. Since I sourced all the plumbing myself on the internet to save money, it's not like my contractor was trying to get me to purchase a more expensive brand so he could profit.
On handshowers-- a lot of the cheaper models that look like metal are in fact not metal-- so they will crack when dropped. One supplier told me that you can't have a metal handheld, it has to be plastic or ceramic, because metal gets too hot to hold. He lied. My Dornbracht handshower is metal and insulated so it does not get too hot to hold. It's great.
I'd defnitely go for a german brand at any rate-- the standard set-up over there is to have a tub and a handshower, or a stall with a handshower mounted to a wall. They know from handshowers. Sadly, since it's rarer here, it's also more expensive.