Digital and smart showers explained

A digital shower, sometimes sold as a "smart" shower, is a mixer shower with the mixing valve moved out of the wall behind the controls. The part you touch in the shower is a control panel or a dial. The valve that actually blends hot and cold sits in a box somewhere else, often in a loft, an airing cupboard, under a bath or in a void, and the panel tells it what to do.

It is still a mixer shower. It takes hot and cold from your house supplies and blends them. It is not the same as an electric shower, which heats cold mains water itself. If you are still deciding between those two, start with electric vs mixer showers.

How a digital shower differs from an ordinary mixer

On a standard mixer, the valve is in the shower: on the wall as a bar, or in the wall behind a plate. Bar vs concealed shower valves covers both. You turn a handle, and a thermostatic cartridge in the valve body does the blending.

On a digital shower, the parts are split:

• The processor or mixer unit. A box containing the motorised blending valve and its electronics. Some versions for low-pressure systems have a pump built into the same box.
• The controller. A panel or dial in the shower, connected to the box by a data cable or, on some models, wirelessly. Some makers also offer an app or a remote button outside the shower.
• The outlets. A handset, a fixed head, or both, fed by pipe from the box.

Because the mixing happens remotely, only a thin cable, or nothing at all, needs to reach the shower wall. That is one reason digital showers are popular where the shower wall is hard to open, or for a bath filler and a shower controlled from one panel.

Pumped and high-pressure versions

Digital showers are usually sold in two broad types:

• For high-pressure systems, such as a combi boiler or an unvented cylinder. These have no pump.
• For gravity systems, with a cold tank in the loft and a vented hot cylinder. These include a pump in the processor box, so they replace the need for a separate shower pump.

Buying the wrong type for your system is a common and expensive mistake. A pumped version must not be fed from the mains, and a high-pressure version may perform poorly on a gravity system. If you are not sure what you have, check before buying. Low water pressure and shower pump sizing explain the gravity side.

Delayed temperature and the "ready" signal

A digital shower may take a short time to reach the chosen temperature, especially if the hot pipe from the cylinder or boiler to the processor box is long. Many panels show a light or a symbol when the water is ready. This is not a fault. Placing the processor box close to the hot supply, and keeping pipe runs short, is something to discuss with whoever fits it.

The temperature control is still thermostatic. The processor keeps the blend steady if another tap is used. It cannot make hot water that the boiler or cylinder is not supplying.

Electrics: a job for a qualified electrician

Every digital shower needs mains electricity at the processor or pump box. Some also need a supply to a wireless receiver. That electrical supply is a job for a qualified electrician. Work in a bathroom, and new circuits, are covered by the rules on electrical safety in homes in Part P of the Building Regulations in England. The GOV.UK Approved Document P page is the place to start. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements.

We do not give wiring instructions. The maker's installation manual will say what supply the unit needs and where the box may be placed. Do not open the processor box yourself.

The plumbing side

The plumbing is closer to a normal mixer than people expect. Hot and cold need to reach the processor box, with isolation valves so it can be serviced, and an outlet pipe runs from the box to the shower. The box needs to be reachable for maintenance, protected from frost if it is in a loft, and fixed where the maker allows.

Things to settle before first fix include:

• where the processor box goes, and how someone will reach it later;
• the route of the data cable or confirmation that the model is wireless;
• whether your system is high pressure or gravity, and which version suits it;
• whether a cold-water tank in the loft is big enough for a pumped shower;
• whether you want one outlet or two, and a bath filler.

Maintenance

Heads, hoses and handsets need the same care as any shower: see shower heads and hoses. The blending valve sits in the processor rather than a cartridge in the wall, so the advice in shower valve cartridges does not apply directly. Faults inside the box are usually a job for the maker's service engineer or the installer. Keep the manual and the model number.

One smart shower Wickes lists

We haven't tested this. Figures are as the maker states them (checked 13 November 2026).

Is a digital shower the same as an electric shower?

No. A digital shower blends hot and cold water from your existing supplies, like any mixer. An electric shower heats cold water itself. Both need electricity, but for different reasons.

Can I fit a digital shower myself?

The pipework is plumbing, and the electrical supply is a job for a qualified electrician. Many makers also recommend a trained installer. Check the manual before deciding.

Will a digital shower fix low water pressure?

Only if it is a pumped version on a suitable gravity system. A high-pressure version cannot add pressure the supply does not have.