Types Of Taps

A Selection of the Best Selling Kitchen Taps

A Selection of the Best Selling Bathroom Taps

Often you buy a product knowing that it will fit in with your general décor, whether it is contemporary, traditional or something in between. Usually the only thing you have to worry about is style. Will that carpet work with that wallpaper? Or will the lighting system really suit your retro study style? But with some items, particularly where plumbing is concerned, you have to know a little more. In fact it’s a good idea if you know your plumbing system before you purchase such things as basin taps. If you get it wrong, the whole lot has to come out and be replaced with something that works. So it’s best to gain a little knowledge first rather than to risk just buying and hoping.

Know your plumbing system

Knowing your plumbing system basically means knowing whether it’s a low pressure, medium pressure of high pressure system. It’s difficult to run a large shower unit off a low pressure system, for instance. Most basin taps will have a minimum pressure level at which they will work satisfactorily. This measurement takes into consideration the installed plumbing system as well as the tap itself. Low pressure systems are generally below 1 bar. About 0.1 bar is the distance of a vertical metre between the tap outlet and the base of the water tank. They’re generally gravity fed as well. High pressure plumbing systems are usually pumped, mains fed or combination boilers. So if you know your system you should be able to work out whether its high or low pressure.

Mains pressure, by the way, is the pressure of the water entering the house measured from the top tap. Water companies have to maintain a minimum pressure of 1 bar.

So, now that you know what kind of system you have, you can choose a tap. And there are many different types to choose from. First of all, though, you have to take into consideration the style of basin your tap is going to be fitted to. You don’t want to purchase a monobloc mixer if your basin has two or three tap holes, regardless of how trendy it looks. Instead you’ll need either two pillar taps or mixer taps that fill the number of holes your basin has. Then you’ll have to decide what’s right for the room your tap is going into.

Handles

Tap handles come in a variety of designs including knob type, lever or cross head. Cross head taps are easier to use as there is more for your fingers to hang on to, especially if they are wet and slippery. They’re also a staple of traditional design items and look good. But lever handles are probably the most useful, especially for those who have difficulty with hand movement such as sufferers from arthritis. Levers can be easily pushed from side to side and in monobloc taps can operate both flow and water temperature at the same time. But those with hand problems should consider lever taps even on pillar varieties.

Internals

As well as the outer design of the tap you should be aware of what goes on inside as well. All taps used to have washers, the rubber rings used to create a watertight seal, that often wore out with use and needed many turns of the handle to shut off the water. These are known as Screw-down taps. Today many taps are ‘ceramic disc’ types. They don’t have washers. Instead they use ceramic discs to create the watertight seal. They are found in two handle mixer taps as well as single lever or monobloc taps. With quarter turn ceramic discs they allow the tap to be turned from on to off with just a quarter of a turn but these taps are also made to use three quarter and one half turns as well. In their favour is that they are hard wearing and therefore long lasting. A tap with a ceramic disc cartridge uses this technology.

Filters

Another modern innovation in basin taps is the filter tap with built in water filter. It works like any other water filter to get rid of impurities in the water leaving it tasting better and free of unwanted chemicals. The filter can be regularly replaced.

So there are lots to choose from and considerable differences in form and function. So once you have learned what kind of plumbing system you have and what kind of tap you’ll need to work with it you can begin to Browse.