Been reading reviews for hours and can’t decide. Need a twin impeller pump. Key attribute would be that it as quiet as possible and provides enough oomph – was looking at Techflow QT range for quietness, but some reviews recommend Stuart Turner or Salamander.

Also unsure as to what bar/number of bars pump I need. Will be using it to run a multi-function thermostatic (Mira) shower. Was thinking 1.5 bar as a minimum. If I go for more bars will it just go through all the hot water in a couple of minutes (obv depends on size of water tank)

Can anyone help?? (I realise it is not the most exciting topic for a Friday evening but it is doing my head in!)

Stuat Turner pumps tend to last well, quality cast iron bodies. Make sure that what ever you get it is continuously rated. Most noise from shower pumps comes from cavitation due to poor/undersize installations.

Thanks dropoff. What do you mean by cavitation and undersized installation It’ll be a plumber fitting it (as part of complete bathroom overhaul) so would be good to know what to look out for.

We’ve had a Stuart Turner pump for around 8 years or so. Highly rated. When we’ve had people in to do plumbing/bathroom work they’ve commented favourably about them because apparently they’re brass rather than plastic and rated for durability and quietness. They are expensive though. I don’t know anything about the other brand you mentioned. We bought ours after a recommendation (and discount!) from a family member in the trade and when we tried out various ones at a shop display stand, the Stuart Turners were considerably quieter too. Hope that helps.
(PS they’re aftersales support is supposed to be good too)

alternatively you could go for one of the Grohe in the loft pumps with the remote control. they are initially a little more but the labour is pretty easy andf they seem to work really well.

PS A colleague of mine had one connected up to his bath too because he said neither he or his wife liked to wait for the bath to fill…….
(true story)

Cavitation is caused when a pumps impellar is trying to shift more fluid than it can suck, so it starts to create a vacuum in the suction lines and that causes noise. To prevent this the suction lines need to be sized according to the output from the pump, generally 22mm is adequate but if the runs are longer 28mm is prefered.

The Stuart Turner I had my eyes on was one of their cheaper models – the ones without the brass fittings. I guess maybe it’s a case of you gets what you pays for..?