Shower Valves
Pressure Balance
A pressure-balance valve will have one control that regulates both the temperature and pressure.
These types of valves adjust the pressure of hot and cold water in order to regulate water temperature.
Pros:
- Pressure valves automatically shut down when there is an imbalance of hot-and-cold water pressure. This feature prevents water from spiking or dropping in temperature. A common event that causes cold water pressure to drop is when someone flushes the toilet.
- Pressure-balance valves can keep your water temperature constant within 3 degrees.
Cons:
- Because these valves monitor pressure to regulate temperature, they do not account for instances where pressure remains balanced but water temperature drops. This usually happens when you have used all the hot water in your home. In this instance, the hot water pressure hasn’t changed, but the hot water tank has run out of hot water. As a result, you’ll be stuck taking a cold shower.
- While pressure valves release enough water to satisfy a single showerhead, they usually do not have a high enough flow rate to accommodate multiple showerheads and bodysprays.
