Low Pressure Taps

Taps that will still give you a usable flow on a low pressure system — the sort you have if your hot water comes from a cylinder fed by a cold tank in the loft rather than straight off the mains. Basin mixers, bath fillers, bath shower mixers and tall mixers, in chrome, matt black, brushed brass and brushed nickel.

Low pressure is the single most common reason a new tap disappoints. A tap designed for mains pressure fitted to a gravity system can trickle, and no amount of adjusting will fix it. Check the minimum operating pressure on the product page against what your system actually delivers.

How to tell if you need low pressure taps

• Cold water tank in the loft and a hot cylinder in a cupboard usually means gravity-fed and low pressure.
• A combi boiler with no tanks means you are on mains pressure and have a free choice.
• An unvented cylinder is mains pressure too, even though there is a cylinder.
• Pressure depends on the height between the loft tank and the tap, so ground floor is better than upstairs.
• If in doubt, a pump on the hot feed opens up the rest of the range.

Also in this range: all bathroom taps, basin mixer taps and bath filler taps.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as low water pressure?

Generally anything under about 1 bar, and gravity-fed systems often sit between 0.1 and 0.5 bar at the tap. The figure depends on how far the tap is below the cold tank, so the same system can be fine downstairs and weak upstairs.

Can I fit a mains pressure tap on a gravity system?

You can fit it, but it may barely flow. Either choose a tap rated for the pressure you have, or fit a pump on the hot and cold feeds to raise it.

How do I find my water pressure?

The simplest check is to time how long a tap takes to fill a measured container, or measure the height from the base of your cold tank to the tap — roughly every 10 metres of height gives 1 bar.