We are renovating our master bathroom and one option is to install a rain head fixture in the shower in addition to the normal multifunction head. It’ a lot of extra money, though, and we have no experience or a rain head. Does anyone here have any experience of one and can comment on whether they are significantly better than an ordinary shower?
I don’t have one but have experienced one in my sister’s house. I didn’t care for it. Yes, you get broader coverage, but there was not enough pressure to suit me. (And the issue was definitely the shower head, not their water pressure.) They ended up switching it out for a more conventional multi-setting head.
I wouldn’t pay extra to have one in addition to a regular shower head. But perhaps there is some nuance about standing under a wide, wimpy shower that I failed to appreciate.
I had one for a while and had the same problem. Modifying it to make it not water-saving made it tolerable, but barely.
I don’t like them. I have thick hair and it’s a PITA to get it wet and rinsed with a rain head shower.
We had one. We hated it. Same reasons as above.
Our master has both kinds, each on opposing walls. I like the rain head and it’s my primary, although my guy hair isn’t the length of most women’s. We have the normal, dial a setting head too for whenever a more vigorous stream is needed.
Have used them at hotels. I think I would have the same issue with every day use. Plus, you have to stand directly underneath them, which I found odd for getting clean purposes. I’m used to a shower head, which comes from off to the side. I found myself standing there with my eyes squeezed tightly shut trying to keep soap out of my eyes.
Thank you all - you have just saved me a bunch of money.
You can get a multi-setting shower head. I personally like my shower stream strong enough to nearly blow my hair off, so rain showers aren’t for me. However, I occasionally change over to that setting just to relax for a bit. I would be sorely disappointed if I could only have a rain shower to try to get clean.
I had a rain shower head in my old house. It used a helluva lot of water, to the point where we’d drain our 50 gallon tank in 10-20 minutes, depending on how hot you wanted it. Not worth it, IMO.
We put a rain showerhead in our renovated bathroom. We made a wet room with a rain shower on the ceiling and a hand-held shower head on the wall, in case we wanted to use that. We LOVE the rain shower! And we never ran out of hot water. Different strokes, I guess. Or different water heaters, perhaps.
Why not stay overnight in a hotel that has rain showers and try it out to see if you like it? You might love it.
I know I will hate it because I don’t like water on my face. That is why we will definitely have a multifunction shower head. The rain head is a possible extra option that my wife thought she might like, hence this thread to get some opinions. It is very expensive though - it adds about $2,000 to the cost of our bathroom renovation. I don’t think we will want to add more cost by staying somewhere to try it out.
We first came across them years ago in Greece and Turkey and I liked them so much I bought one as soon as they became available here and, like I said above, it’s my primary. While a hotel room checkout might be too expensive an option, you could just buy one, put it in the guest shower and try it there. $50 or 60, a ‘fancy’ shower for relatives and you can try it out all you want.
Are we talking about the same thing? The regular showerhead attaches to an arm sticking out of the wall. The rainhead attaches to a pipe coming out of the ceiling, so I don’t see how we can try the rainhead in a shower that currently has a regular showerhead.
And it isn’t $50 - $60. The rainhead alone (ignoring valve, trim, showerarm and labor) is $557.
No, you aren’t. You’re talking about the above, I think lieu is talking about these rain can shower heads - the shower head only. You replace your current shower head with it. Totally different things.
I don’t think they were ever meant as a replacement for a normal shower head. Rain heads in normal showers I think are probably an attempt to emulate much more expensive luxury homes.
Every time I have built a bathroom with one they were part of a suite of features that always included a ‘tower’ (a wand on a rail for height adjustment, with a high end but regular shower head) and often side sprays and/or steam. There’s even waterfalls and coloured lights available. The tower alone will have a plus $1000 price tag. The rain heads are meant as a relaxing feature with gentle, purely vertical saturating spray.
The adjustable heads that offer the appearance and function of rain heads along with normal settings wont give the full effect of the rain head unless they are mounted directly overhead, and won’t duplicate the effect of a normal head unless they are wall mounted.
No, we weren’t and I apologize for misunderstanding. Similar to what Missy2U linked to, I thought you were referencing the large, plate-like heads that are known by a similar name. Even our top of the line was just a little over $120, for $557 plus installation I’d expect a rain head to also come with thunder and lightning. Sorry for the confusion.
I’ve got one and I absolutely love it 