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The definition of a digital shower is likely to evolve as manufacturers include increasing digital wizardry into their units.
The definition of a digital shower is likely to evolve as manufacturers include increasing digital wizardry into their units.
Digital showers are showers that use a digital display which allows you to set the precise temperature that you want.
We all know what it's like trying to get shower temperature right by moving mechanical dials microscopic amounts. It's not exactly the most user-friendly experience.
Digital showers still use a mixer tap, but because the user can set the water heat digitally, they get much more precise control over temperature. A heat sensor in the shower continually monitors the temperature to ensure a smooth and consistent experience.
Digital showers come with a range of features designed to improve your quality of life. The most important of these is precise control. With a digital shower, you avoid wild oscillations between boiling hot and freezing cold. Showering becomes a lot safer.
Some models, like the Mira Platinum Concealed Dual Rain Thermostatic Ceiling Fed Shower With Diverter HP/Combi, offer a wireless controller. The controller works on much the same principles as your regular digital devices. But instead of communicating with your router, it talks to the water heating unit in your shower.
A wireless system like this helps avoid the complications of putting wires everywhere in the bathroom while still providing you with an unprecedented level of control.
The Mira Platinum shower also features a warm-up mode. The idea here is to prepare the water in advance so that it's ready to use the moment you need it.
Have you ever noticed how some showers require you to leave them running while the element warms up enough to deliver hot water? Well, with the Mira, you don't have to stand around waiting. Just pop it into warm-up mode, and it's ready to go when you are.
Traditional power showers always leave you guessing whether the water is the correct temperature. You didn't change the dial from the day before, so you hope that it will deliver the same heat, but you can never entirely be sure.
The Aqualisa Quartz Chrome Digital Concealed Shower with Adjustable Head skirts around this problem. The panel comes with an LED light that illuminates once it reaches the desired temperature. Once lit, you can step right into the shower and begin washing immediately, without having to conduct the usual field tests first.
Customisable Spray
Convenience and customisation is something that we've become used to in the Western world. It's a feature of practically every product on the market. The more you pay, the more features you get.
In the shower market, the same principle applies. But what's interesting about the digital shower revolution is that it's making it easier to access all those settings. Take the Mira Platinum Concealed Dual Rain Thermostatic Shower with Diverter HP/Combi. Not only does the shower have many of the features that we've discussed already, but it also comes with a variety of spray settings.
The Mira comes with two shower outlets, an overhead "deluge" unit, and a handheld. Mira has designed the two units to work together using its Mira Flipstream technology. Users can choose between four unique spray settings.
Everybody knows that power showers use a lot of energy. Most heat water by bringing it into contact with superheated elements - something which requires an enormous amount of electricity.
Before the digital shower revolution, it wasn't easy to tell how much water you'd used, or the amount of energy. But with digital sensors and displays, all of a sudden that's all changed. You really can see real-time information on the resources you're using.
Environmentalists have been harping after technology like this for a long time. The hope is that if people can see how much water and energy that they use in the shower, they'll be inclined to use less.
Mira has taken some substantial steps towards this. The company includes what it calls "Eco function" in select shower models, including the ones we've discussed here. The idea is to encourage people to limit their time in the shower so that they don't use more energy than they need.
The system works in conjunction with the clock. Under normal conditions, the clock will time how long you've been in the shower, mainly for your convenience. In eco mode, however, the timer will warn you once five minutes is up - an upper threshold for an eco-friendly shower. You finish what you're doing and then get out of the shower.
Eco mode also does other things too. Mira has designed a system that uses less water while in eco mode without seriously affecting performance. Eco mode also dims the display, which the company says helps to reduce power consumption too.
There are two ways of getting information from the shower control dial to the shower unit: wires and wireless signal technology. A wired shower, as you might guess, is one that uses a regular cable to do this, while a wireless digital shower, as discussed, works similarly to your portable devices.
Mira offers both wired and wireless showers. The Mode range is wired, while the Platinum comes fully wireless.
Which you choose has a lot to do with the experience of your plumber. Wireless varieties tend to have more features because they are at the premium end of the market.
Many of the biggest companies in the digital shower space now offer companion apps to go with their showers. When you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Often you want to tell your shower to heat the water before you start using it, without having to travel to the bathroom to physically push buttons on the system. With a digital shower app, you can. You just whip out your phone, tell your shower to get going, and then go up a few minutes later and start washing without interruption.
Shower apps come with all kinds of functions, depending on the manufacturer. Some are pretty sophisticated and allow you to set the minimum and maximum temperature of your shower, and how long it should run. You can also set different profiles, depending on who is using it.
Manufacturers of digital showers want as many people to benefit from them as possible, so they make them for practically any plumbing system. You can use them regardless of whether you have a gravity-fed system or a combi boiler.
Digital showers bring the advantages of digital technology into the bathroom. You can use them to fine-tune water temperature, pre-heat your shower, and save energy. In fact, there's not much that they can't do. Many digital showers come with companion apps, letting you control setting remotely from the comfort of your smartphone. Every year, manufacturers increase the capabilities of their digital showers, providing more features as standard. The purpose is to make showering easier and more enjoyable for the user. So far, they’ve succeeded.
