shower dome

[kapitibeanman]

Na - Just stop getting filthed up.

[skid]

And with that, no shower dome for us.. The guy said the way our shower is made, we wouldn't be able to open and shut the shower doors once a shower dome is fitted... Just as well I didn't go ahead and rip the silly lit fan out...

The ones they sell at bunnings if your shower is the right size(I think there are 3 sizes) might allow you to open your shower door-(its a different system) might be worth checking.

I just know in our bathroom it was the ONLY thing that stopped the mold

[friendly_prawn]

thanks Skid, I'll have a look but I doubt anything will work.. the problem being the tops of our shower doors are taller than the frame work.. It would more or less take something completely bubble shaped with very little flat edges on it... Not to sure if they make them like that... Will go have a nosey tomorrow anyway.. cheers for the heads up mate..

[Perry]

Doesn't anyone know about dehumidifiers?
They dry the towels out while they're at it.

[friendly_prawn]

Dehumidifier? Not practical to have one permanently sitting in the middle of most bathrooms.. Shifting one in and out of the bathroom night after night would be a real pain in the ass... Not a realistic solution unless you know of some small in built wall model or some thing we all don't know about..

[Perry]

Where is it written that it must be in the
middle of the room? I managed to put one
into a modest-sized bathroom (PPOR) and
it is a small nuisance in the corner. But I put
up with it for the benefits of having dry
towels that don't get that 'mousey' smell,
dry walls and no mould.

From a conservation perspective they're
also good for recycling water. What the
towels take off me as I dry, ends up in
the dehumidifier reservoir and I use it to
water the pot plants.

Some drawbacks exist, of course. Costs
about $3-4 / week to run, the lint filters
need a monthly blow out, but, on balance,
I'd rather have one than not. Plus I have
a custom shaped shower, with a shower
curtain, so have a similar problem to you
with a shower dome being unworkable.

[friendly_prawn]

There are other solutions too.. Having a cold shower would work.. But it's just not practical.. For you a dehumidifier might be ok.. For some a cold shower might be ok, but in general they are just not practical solutions.. Otherwise every one would be doing it..

Although Perry you may have just come up with a clever idea.. Some one who was very clever could pick up on your comments and look at making possibly an in wall dehumidifier or something that is a more practical solution could get rich.. Now there's a thought.. It's a wonder it hasn't been done.. Possibly to power hungry?

Might be a fortune to be made there if some one was clever enough to make a practical and workable dehumidifier solution for the general population to use in shower rooms.. ;-)

[skid]

thanks Skid, I'll have a look but I doubt anything will work.. the problem being the tops of our shower doors are taller than the frame work.. It would more or less take something completely bubble shaped with very little flat edges on it... Not to sure if they make them like that... Will go have a nosey tomorrow anyway.. cheers for the heads up mate..

A photo would help, but Ive seen some that sit on top of a baton running along the top of the shower-It could be roughly the same height as the shower door--They are all bubble shaped but not sure about how small the edges are .

[friendly_prawn]

Unfortunately my camera is in Japan at the mo with the mrs...
It's not actually the door but the door hinges just sit up a little to high..
A batten of some sort to lift the dome up a cm or two would probably do the trick but I just cant imagine how this could be done.. We have a curved shower front so it would need to be something that is curved.. And at the back of the shower where shower meets the wall there is probably only a mm or two for a batten to sit on.. Hmmm, it could be screwed in to the wall..
You're giving me food for thought here skid...
I might even try ringing around a few other companies to see if they have a work around for this situation...
cheers mate..

[friendly_prawn]

interesting conclusion at the end of the article...

http://www.showerdome.co.nz/Content/Files/User/waikato-university-report.pdf

[sidinz]

Well, two case studies from me:
House A, Christchurch. No extractors/heaters etc. Just large window. No mould, ever, in over 20 years.
House B, Auckland. Unfortunately, no window and no possibility of putting one in. Bathroom was dark and dingy and grew mould every few months, despite only have one user and a ceiling extractor. Swapped old extractor for solatube/light/fan combo. No mould since installation 2-3 years ago and fan only runs while shower is on and for dressing time afterwards. This is despite regularly having wet walls (open shower).

I must be strange, because although the steamy mirror can sometimes be a pain, I actually like the fact that the steam warms up the bathroom (slightly).

As for some people saying that a showerdome saves money on water heating as you can turn the hot down, that wouldn't be the case for me. I already save in this regard by having the slider head just above mine. That way the spray doesn't cool on the journey from the shower head to me, so I don't need to turn up the heat to compensate. I learnt this when I had a rather tall flatmate. If I left the shower head where he'd had it, I had to turn it up. If I slid it down really low, I could turn it down.

But actually, I thought that with some mixers it didn't matter if you turned the temperature down, you still used the same amount of hot water? Apparently it doesn't reduce the hot, just increases the cold in the mix?

[TheLibrary]

Well, two case studies from me:
House A, Christchurch. No extractors/heaters etc. Just large window.

I think the Large Window is the answer........I am guessing you could open it quite wide to let in a decent amount of ventilation. A showerdome is definitely a good option if the window just isnt suitable, and it also depends on how long many people using the bathroom in the morning, and many cant or wont keep windows open when no one is home. I wouldnt be without a shower dome to be honest, and going fwd, if a shower cant have a showerdome, I would just get a new shower.

[sidinz]

I think the Large Window is the answer........I am guessing you could open it quite wide to let in a decent amount of ventilation.... many cant or wont keep windows open when no one is home.

This window is not left open much. Usually only half an hour or less after a shower as it faces the road and is big enough to climb in. Leaving it open more would make it too easy to go out, leaving it open.

[kapitibeanman]

Well, two case studies from me:
House A, Christchurch. No extractors/heaters etc. Just large window. No mould, ever, in over 20 years.
House B, Auckland. Unfortunately, no window and no possibility of putting one in. Bathroom was dark and dingy and grew mould every few months, despite only have one user and a ceiling extractor. Swapped old extractor for solatube/light/fan combo. No mould since installation 2-3 years ago and fan only runs while shower is on and for dressing time afterwards. This is despite regularly having wet walls (open shower).

So if House A were in Auckland, and House B in Christchurch, do you think that would present differently?

Regarding the Solar tube and fan combo, what turns the fan on & off? Presumably a decent sized fan.

[sidinz]

So if House A were in Auckland, and House B in Christchurch, do you think that would present differently?

Maybe not. Other places I've lived in, in Auckland, didn't have bathroom mould problems and I only ventilated via window.

Regarding the Solar tube and fan combo, what turns the fan on & off? Presumably a decent sized fan.

A switch. And not that big. At first I didn't think it was any more powerful than the old, useless one. I'm not sure whether the absence of mould is more attributable to the fact that the fan is actually better but doesn't seem it, or whether the increased light levels are having an effect.