Plumbing a new shower

[Tired DIYer]

Hi, remodeling bath and a installing a new shower. I have 3/4 supply feeding a Jado 3/4 inch thermo valve and then three Jado volume controls all in a line off the 3/4 supply from the thermo valve. First volume control is 3/4 which feeds three body sprays (2.0 gpm each) on a pressure balancing loop. Second volume control is 1/2 inch and supplies hand held (2.5 gpm). Third volume control is 1/2 inch and supplies main shower head (2.5 gpm). I ran all three volume control valves one after the other using Ts (last one is an elbow) off the 3/4 line from the thermo.

I have five questions I can't seem to find an answer to and could use help with. 1. Does having the valves in a line cause a pressure issue (vs. a T or other design)? 2. Will I have pressure issues on the 1/2 inch valve lines since the 3/4 inch valve is first in line? 3. Should I have a pressure balancing loop around the volume control valves? 4. Will I regret not having 3/4 valves for each of my shower heads? 5. Does the distance from my volume control valves to fixture matter?

Don't know my water pressure, but I'm on muni water and plumbers I've had do work in the past have said pressure was fine.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Jadnashua]

Don't want to speculate, as I don't know the answers. But, I will caution you to check the installation instructions carefully as some thermostatic valves require a shutoff BEFORE them. Yours may not. If it does, a better solution might be a multiport divertor valve with a single shutoff before the thermostatic control valve; otherwise, you need another shutoff and that could start to get busy...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

Hi, remodeling bath and a installing a new shower. I have 3/4 supply feeding a Jado 3/4 inch thermo valve and then three Jado volume controls all in a line off the 3/4 supply from the thermo valve. First volume control is 3/4 which feeds three body sprays (2.0 gpm each) on a pressure balancing loop. Second volume control is 1/2 inch and supplies hand held (2.5 gpm). Third volume control is 1/2 inch and supplies main shower head (2.5 gpm). I ran all three volume control valves one after the other using Ts (last one is an elbow) off the 3/4 line from the thermo.

I have five questions I can't seem to find an answer to and could use help with. 1. Does having the valves in a line cause a pressure issue (vs. a T or other design)? 2. Will I have pressure issues on the 1/2 inch valve lines since the 3/4 inch valve is first in line? 3. Should I have a pressure balancing loop around the volume control valves? 4. Will I regret not having 3/4 valves for each of my shower heads? 5. Does the distance from my volume control valves to fixture matter?

Don't know my water pressure, but I'm on muni water and plumbers I've had do work in the past have said pressure was fine.

Thanks for the help.

1. Does having the valves in a line cause a pressure issue (vs. a T or other design)? Yes it will depending on how you use your system...
2. Will I have pressure issues on the 1/2 inch valve lines since the 3/4 inch valve is first in line? Maybe it depends on so many things...
3. Should I have a pressure balancing loop around the volume control valves? This would be ideal if you plan to use everything at once and would like to fine tune from the volume controls...
4. Will I regret not having 3/4 valves for each of my shower heads? Valves or supply lines? Pex or copper?
5. Does the distance from my volume control valves to fixture matter? Better a plumber answer that but I would think bends and 90's would do more harm than distance of the run


In the big picture each of your fixtures is under restrictors and your Thermostatic control valve can only take and give so much water per minute. Having the luxury of three volume controls will also give you the luxury of fine tuning these flows each day. All you extra concern and planning may only net you the luxury of a perfectly balanced "All System Full Blast" scenerio.

On our last big shower package we piped the entire job in 1" Pex (same as 3/4" copper) and the balancing loops for the body jets (3 and 3) where piped in 3/4" pex (same as 1/2" copper). The engineers at DornBract where very helpful with our calculations and perhaps you should take some pressure readings before you finalize your game plan. I find using a simple pressure guage and then latter filling a garbage can can give very accurate readings for both pressure and flow rates.

Good Luck. Look forward to seeing your new bathroom!