Well read this before you buy...
Buying a Steam Shower is certainly a substantial purchase and with the vast amount of models, makes and offers available on the Internet and elsewhere, the old saying "you get what you pay for" has never been more true.
And that's just not in the quality of the product supplied, but also in the level of reliability, service, after sales support and the availability of spare parts, should there ever be a problem in the future.
Whilst price is likely to be at the forefront of many people’s thinking when making a Steam Shower purchase, all these other important factors should be duly considered, to ensure you receive the best in terms of both product value and service.
At Bathtek, we do not sell cheap Steam Showers... what we do supply though, is a top quality product at a very competitive price that is based and discounted purely on high volume purchases, without cutting corners on quality. In this regard, we are likely the largest and most successful importer and supplier in the UK and have been trading since 2005 as a specialist in this particular market sector.
So although at first glance a particular steam shower may appear good value, do ensure and check that the following is also offered:
- High specification quality product (value for money)
- Comprehensive Fitting and operational instruction manuals.
- Technical Support Line - for direct advice on installations.
- After Sales Service
- Spare Parts Availability
- Warranty
Manufacturing Specification
GLASS: All Bathtek Steam Showers comply with ISO 9001, CE and are fitted with tempered safety glass of between 5-6mm in thickness and have passed the necessary testing to ensure that in instances where the glass should break, this will simply shatter into very small pieces with no sharp edges.
The back panels of the shower cabins are made of mirrored, tempered glass that has also undergone the same tests.
FRAMES: The frames on Bathtek Steam Showers are manufactured in 1.2mm aluminium, which provides excellent structural support, stability and finish. On cheaper models, frames can be plastic and sprayed to look like aluminium and thus not as sturdy or long lasting.
TUB/BASE: All Bathtek shower tub bases and steam whirlpool cabins, are fitted with a fully supporting, steel framework bonded to the tub, which affords both a stable footing and assists in offering overall structural stability. Do be aware that if a shower base is not supported on a steel frame, it can have a tendency to flex, leading to cracking of the base or unbalancing the occupant(s) whilst in use.
In general, we would always recommend your Steam Shower be installed by a professional plumber or installer. In this regard and if you should decide to purchase from Bathtek, we would be able to recommend the services of a Bathtek Approved installer. By choosing a Bathtek installer, you will know that the commissioning of your shower is being handled by people who have installed many hundreds of Bathtek showers and at a very competitive price
If you have some knowledge and familiarity with the water supply to your property, the information below should be sufficient for you to determine what your individual plumbing requirements are likely to be. If this is a subject totally alien to you, the information should at least enable you to discuss this with an installer, with some degree of confidence. If there is anything you are unsure about though, we'll be happy to answer your questions on 01423 522 222, 9am-5pm
CONNECTIONS: All Bathtek Steam Showers are designed to be free standing units that are connected in much the same way as a washing machine or dishwasher. Connections for hot and cold water, and power are at the back of the unit. On Bathtek steam showers, depending on the model and size, the water connects at the diverter which is positioned about 1.3m from the floor at the rear of the unit.
Each shower comes supplied with hoses of approximately 1m length for both hot and cold water feeds. The 13a power supply is typically from under the base and has a cable approximately 1.5m in length.
WATER PRESSURE: All our showers require between 1 and 3 bar of water pressure to function successfully. For optimum results, 2-3 bar is recommended and with Bathtek steam shower cabins, a flow rate of at least 7.5 litres per minute is required and the water supply to the unit, must also be balanced. Be aware that steam showers do not have independent means of heating water for showering - this comes direct from your existing hot water installation.
WATER SUPPLY: If you already have a modern Combi Boiler fitted, this will be fine because most will output a minimum 1 - 3 bar of the required pressure. However, because they typically use mains pressure cold water, you must have a Pressure Equalising Valve (PEV) fitted, to ensure that water pressures to the steam shower unit, are always balanced. These are available from most plumbers merchants and also from ourselves for £79.
If you have a Gravity fed hot water system, this alone may not produce sufficient pressure to the shower cabin. Although this can be easily overcome, it is an important issue when considering your steam shower purchase. In these circumstances, Bathtek would recommend the fitting of a Twin Impeller Pump, so that the hot and cold water are supplied to the shower at a higher and equal pressure. Shower pumps can also be obtained from all good plumbing merchants or ourselves. Bathtek supply a number of Salamander Shower pumps, each chosen for their suitability to provide the correct pressure to work alongside your Bathtek Shower or Steam showers and with prices from as little as £179.
Bathtek only supply Salamander Shower pumps. Salamander are perhaps the UK’s most recognised brand supplier of shower pumps. Their reputation for quality or workmanship, advanced technological skills, quiet and safe operation make them the name to trust.
HOSES: All quality steam showers have internal piping included. All Bathtek models, have a flexible waste pipe located underneath the tub/base which must then have an ‘inline trap' fitted to it, available from all plumbers merchants and DIY stores.
The pipes to supply the various services on the shower are all connected to the back of the shower in the central diverter block assembly. These will all be labelled as to which service they should be connected to; foot massage, hand shower, steam generator etc, and all have 15mm fittings.
ELECTRICITY: Bathtek steam showers require a 13amp power supply. All our steam showers come ready supplied with a cable approximately 1.5m in length, which is typically found under the base. Bathtek recommend that the electricity is connected via an isolated fused spur according to the Regulations for electricity use in bathroom areas.
Bathtek steam shower are supplied with an RCD (Residual Circuit Device) fitted. This safety feature offers you protection in case of a fault with the electricity supply; electrical spike, electricity storm or short. If your Consumer unit (mains electricity board) has a built in RCD, then you should remove the one fitted to the shower as two RCD’s together often false trip each other. The power is converted within the shower to operate the lighting and radio etc to a safe 12 volts. In general, LED lights in a steam showers should all be low voltage. In Bathtek showers, there are 2 lighting circuits, one for the ceiling light/s, and one for the low voltage LED lights.
No introduction to Steam Showers would be complete without including and underlining the benefits of Hydrotherapy to personal health and wellness. As you are probably already aware, Hydrotherapy is the use of water to promote health and healing. By using the effects of water on the body; buoyancy, warmth, and turbulence (Hydro-massage) we are able to help reduce the effects of pain, stress and discomfort. Hydrotherapy is found to be especially beneficial for people with sports injuries, Arthritis, aching joints, muscular pain, stress, stiffness, Rheumatism, Sciatica and general tiredness and aching brought on by modern living and much more besides.
HYDROTHERAPY: When the body is immersed in water it is as much as 80% lighter and this removes the pressure on the muscles, joints, ligaments and spine. The warmth of the water (or steam) makes the blood vessels dilate (increase in diameter), which increases blood circulation around the body. Heat also enables the cells to more easily rid themselves of metabolic waste, which is replaced by oxygen and the body's natural nutrients.
The movement of the water passing over our bodies gives the body direct and often immediate relief as it massages the muscles and joints. This is most especially noticeable in Whirlpools where the powerful jets massage the body. This direct stimulation relaxes the muscles in the area, so allowing the muscle or joint to mend. As the water massages areas of the body, endorphins are produced, which in turn further assist pain relief.
When you are in pain or under stress, chemical changes in your body can cause the blood pressure and pulse rate to increase, but having regular hydrotherapy treatments can help you to reduce these symptoms by slowing down the process of stress reaction. Hydrotherapy is also thought to also help regulate the body’s temperature by improving the efficiency of the body to perspire. This further helps the body remove toxins and can lead to a much improved skin appearance and healthy glow.
BUYING GUIDE: In the closing section of this report, we're going to focus on the ordering and support aspects of purchasing a Steam Shower. As one of the UK's leading suppliers with Franchise branches opening throughout the UK, Wholesale distribution via Costco Stores Nationwide and many, many other outlets with displays selling the Bathtek brand of showers and steam showers, Bathtek believe they set the benchmark in ordering procedures, delivery, support and after sales service. As such, all these aspects should be considered when making your Steam Shower purchase because ignoring them - to just perhaps save a few pounds on the price you pay, could well turn out to be a costly mistake in the long run.
ORDERING: Ordering your Steam Shower from Bathtek is very straightforward - this can be done either online at our website www.bathtek.com or by calling us on 01423 522 222 - 9am to 5pm. Due to demand on the more popular models, we will accept advance orders for currently out of stock items, particularly as in-coming stock is often allocated or purchased very quickly.
Most customers, we find, typically call to order, this affords them the opportunity to ask questions before they finally purchase. Our website is extremely comprehensive, and we are proud of the amount of very helpful content it has, but there are always one or two specific questions that are often asked before a purchase is finally made. The internet is a marvellous thing and buying online is a true wonder, but most of our customer sales are taken on the phone, where if nothing else they get the peace of mind that there IS a person on the end of the hone and the company is genuine.
DELIVERY: Once your order is placed, if the item is from stock, then we can arrange to have your delivery to your door in as little as 48 hours. If the items is special order or not in stock then an approximate delivery time is provided and we then will keep you updated on the schedule as it progresses. We are also happy to only take a small deposit on items that are not able to be delivered immediately, with the remainder due before dispatch. Deliveries are sent on a palette and are delivered on a tail lift vehicle as standard. We can arrange for smaller vehicles to be used if there are access limitations getting to the delivery location, providing you inform us at the time of order. When we arrange a delivery to you, we are able to offer you either am or pm delivery slot, with options to have a call placed ahead of the delivery to give you time to prepare to receive the goods if required.
INSTALLATION & SUPPORT: When you make a purchase through us, we supply full installation instructions written and produced by ourselves from our extensive knowledge and experience. We do know that some suppliers reply on poorly translated, un-comprehensive manuals that only lead to poor/miss-understood installation and frustration. A Technical Helpline is available for customers and installers to enable us to answer any questions relating to the assembly and installation of your shower or even guide your plumber through each step of the installation should the written instructions prove not be sufficient!
WARRANTY: All units purchased through Bathtek come with a 1 year "Return to Base Warranty." If a fault develops with your unit within the first 28 days of your plumber installing it....that is not a fault of the way it was installed, we will cover any reasonable cost (upon receipt of Installation Completion Certificate) for your plumber to return to you and rectify the problem. If any other fault occurs past the 28 days, we operate a no quibble Warranty system where we will send any required replacement parts to you on a next day delivery service where possible, completely free of charge for a period of 1 year from the date of purchase. (Please retain your original invoice number to validate this and your Installation Completion Certificate). Note also that the Warranty can be extended for up to a further 2 years if required.
Bathtek
www.bathtek.com
enquiries@bathtek.com
01423 522 222
Bathtek, Units 2 & 3, Saltergate Business Park, Burley Bank Road, Harrogate HG3 2BX
