"Point of Use" or "Whole House Tankless"?

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

At one time, long ago, you could buy shower attachments with on/off buttons for the shower spray (not a diverter to the tub valve). Those disappeared and the suppliers had said that these leaked. However, you can find these still for RVs, where hot water volume is limited. I kept one of the old ones for years, OK decades, and I'm sure it is somewhere still . . .

Right. But, you can still buy on/off switches and diverters for the shower head arm, and then the shower head screws into them.

I have them installed in all my bathrooms here, to accommodate a long-reach handheld we just for cleaning the showers/tub areas. We don't use the handhelds for personal use, just cleaning so we don't keep them installed.



That particular one above is on/off, not a diverter. I used this in my last home since the plumber ripped out the flow restrictors and the pressure was a bit too high; we used that to throttle back the flow. He ripped out the flow restrictors, as he does on all his jobs, "since I'm sick and tired of callbacks from people not used to the new lower flow units than they are used to" Good for him.



And THAT one above is the diverter we use for the removable hand held.

Each one of those is about $10 on Amazon, chrome-plated brass and very well made.

 

[Twowaxhack]

My Delta hand held combo shower head/hose has an on-off button, so they are still around.

I bought a case of those. Hot sellers.

 

[havasu]

Re: those Delta hand held, magnetic housing units, I saw them for about $120 at the orange big box. I then went to a plumbing supply store and the same (looking) unit was $350. I skoffed at the price until they showed me the difference. The hose was metal rather than the cheap plastic one offered at the orange big box. I also noticed it weighed about double from the one sold at the bog box store. I opted for the better, more expensive unit, and have not regretted this decision. Just food for thought.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Re: those Delta hand held, magnetic housing units, I saw them for about $120 at the orange big box. I then went to a plumbing supply store and the same (looking) unit was $350. I skoffed at the price until they showed me the difference. The hose was metal rather than the cheap plastic one offered at the orange big box. I also noticed it weighed about double from the one sold at the bog box store. I opted for the better, more expensive unit, and have not regretted this decision. Just food for thought.

Here are the ones I bought. $20 each. With a metal hose........awesome deal.
Delta !!!!!!!

 

[Twowaxhack]

The part that screws onto the shower arm is metal too, not plastic.

 

[PerplexedPlumber]

I saw those shut-off attachments on Amazon not long ago & wondered about the quality. Thanks for your post.

With more focus on energy and water conservation, I'm not surprised to see those on showerheads again too. It wasn't clear why those were ever eliminated, and the ones that were available in the late 90s had a drip by design. They must have resolved the issue.

 

[Twowaxhack]

I saw those shut-off attachments on Amazon not long ago & wondered about the quality. Thanks for your post.

With more focus on energy and water conservation, I'm not surprised to see those on showerheads again too. It wasn't clear why those were ever eliminated, and the ones that were available in the late 90s had a drip by design. They must have resolved the issue.

They’re meant not to be 100% cut off, like you said, it’s by design.

You get a cross connection with most valves if you have positive cut off.....

This can affect other the rest of the house.

 

[havasu]

This was what I was referring to.

 

[Twowaxhack]

This was what I was referring to.

View attachment 28880

Had two customers that almost broke a toe with those. The magnet would spontaneously come apart and the head would fall.

 

[havasu]

I moved my shower head to 80". I don't think the hose is long enough to even hit the ground, but thanks for the warning.

 

[PerplexedPlumber]

A friend who thinks that if a little is good, more is better, put his shower head at 7 ft. He said it improved the pressure. He's a tall guy. I went to visit for the weekend, had to stand on one of those plastic step stools to reach the water, and the magnetic thing pulled my glasses off. Then I couldn't see the soap bar, fell off the stool and broke my nose! Had to go to the ER!


NOTE: Friend is Pecos Bill, and this is April 1!

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

That’s what standards are for...