Mira Shower Low Pressure? Here's Why

If you've ever taken a low-pressure shower, you know how unsatisfying it can be. It's difficult to feel truly clean when you're struggling to simply rinse off. If your Mira shower has low pressure, we've actually got a few simple reasons as to why. Keep reading to see what the best solutions to low shower pressure are, and get a bit of information along the way that'll help you understand how it all works.

The most common causes of a Mira shower with low pressure are the showerhead, height of the shower, or an airlock.

While there are a few other potential things to check out, we'll get to those in time. Let's start with why your shower likely has low pressure in the first place, yeah?

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Shower Pressure: The Basics

Okay, if your Mira shower has low water pressure, there are a lot of seemingly small things that could be causing it. Let's start with the basic causes before we move on to the nitty-gritty of the fixes.

Electric Showers & Water Pressure

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The nice thing about electric showers is that they're designed to pretty much always be ready to go. If they're attached to the main water system of your home, water is heated instantly. Your shower's water flow is measured in kilowatts (kW), and the higher that measurement is, the better your shower pressure.

In gravity-fed systems, on the other hand, water comes from your cold tank. The hot water cylinder in your airing cupboard heats the water then and there, using an internal pump to increase pressure. Depending on how your home's water is set up, your fix may vary slightly.

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Water Pressure Basics

Water pressure is measured in bars. 1 bar corresponds to the amount of pressure that will move water 10 metres. While your water supplier will give a bare minimum of water pressure, it's often up to homeowners to increase it beyond that minimum to what they actually want. If all of your taps are having issues with low pressure, it may be time to call a plumber.

However, if it's just your shower, I've got some good news - there's likely a pretty simple fix.

The Cause(s)

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Okay, with the absolute bare minimum knowledge out of the way, let's talk about what could be causing your shower to drop in pressure.

The most common cause that is often left ignored is something we talk about a lot here - cleanliness. I know, I know, nobody wants to be told they need to clean, but it's honestly a really important part of homeownership. Keeping your showerhead clean is the best way to ensure you get consistent water pressure. A buildup of mineral deposits and limescale can reduce the amount of water that can escape your showerhead, thus decreasing your overall pressure.

If your shower is gravity-fed, it could also be caused by your shower's physical location. If the shower is higher in your home than most of the plumbing, water could be struggling to make it to your shower - but that's an issue for a plumber to address. We're here for the easy fixes that you can do yourself. So what are they?

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The Fix(es)

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The fastest and easiest solution to fix low water pressure in your Mira shower is to clean the showerhead, simple as that. "But how do I do that?" you may be asking - don't worry, I've got you.

To clean a showerhead, you'll need a few things. Some white distilled vinegar (because it's cheap), baking soda, and some time. A paperclip or bobby pin helps out here, too. Now, here's what to do:

1. Remove your showerhead and drain all of the water out of it. Now - in a bowl big enough to hold the whole showerhead, empty enough vinegar to submerge it (roughly 2 litres).
2. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and submerge your showerhead. Allow it to soak for at least 30 minutes.
3. Gently scrub the exterior of the showerhead, using a paperclip or bobby pin to poke any leftover stubborn buildup out of the holes.
4. Repeat until the showerhead is nice and clean. Test your showerhead.

If this fails to increase your showerhead, the next, most affordable thing to do is to replace the whole showerhead. If the hose and inside of the showerhead has too much mineral buildup, it's often best to replace the whole thing. Nine times out of ten, you'll find that this quickly and drastically improves your shower's water pressure.

Other Options

Some other things you can do include:

• Fitting a Mira shower pump to your shower. This will boost the flow of water to your electric mixer shower and improve your overall showering experience.
• Invest in a power shower. We have a collection of the best power showers in 2021 available right here for your reading ease. Power showers use hot and cold water supplies to feed an electric pump. They work with manual, thermostatic, and low-pressure showers equally well, supplying up to three times the water pressure. You can find Mira power showers right here.

Final Thoughts

Low pressure in a Mira shower can be quite frustrating. Often upon noticing a sudden drop in water pressure, people panic and call the plumber. While that's often the safest route, it's not always the most cost-conscious. Sometimes all that needs to happen is you need to give your showerhead a quick clean - if that's the case, you'd feel quite silly after having a plumber tell you that.

So always check that your showerhead is clean, and give it cleaning at least twice a year to prevent this exact issue. Worst case, you can replace the showerhead entirely for a cost that's still much less than calling in a plumber to take a look. If that fails to fix the issue, a power shower or shower pump will likely do the job. Worst case, you end up calling in the cavalry and they'll get things sorted for you - but it can't hurt to check the above things first, can it?