I went through the same choices when shopping for faucets and tap fittings for my house. The 2 biggest influencers were design and quality.

Design is very individual and quite subjective. All the major Euro brands have a range of designs, some nice and some not so nice. Just depends whether the design you like falls into a higher or lower price range.

As for quality, yeah many people say it's not as good as before. But really how do you tell quality and how much quality is needed for a tap anyway? From my reading it seems the cartridge is the most important part since that is the one with most wear and tear. Most use ceramics nowadays but I think quality can still vary.

The rest like the body and handle are just pieces of cast brass (I think) with the nice shiny chrome plating on it. As long as the pieces are well finished and plating is heavy and durable, I think these parts should last a lifetime.

I was quite fussy about the smoothness of the action. I did try Grohe, Hansgrohe, Hansa and Zucchetti. I felt Grohe and Hansgrohe were the smoothest.

Some of these are still made in the home country. The Hansa I saw were still made in Germany and the Zucchetti made in Italy. As for Grohe, not clearly stated in the box but yes I now about their plant in Thailand. A number of their shower sets are from Germany though. Not sure about Hansgrohe.

Note: retail prices for these are exorbitant in Malaysia. Buy them during the sale. Flowline (which carries Grohe) has 50% sales every year I think.

In case you're wondering in the end I settled on Grohe. Bought most from Flowline during sale. A few other pieces which Flowline didn't have I imported direct from Germany (via ebay.de). The Grohes I got are still heavy and feel very substantial. I don't have any old models to compare to though.

And for the wet kitchen and laundry sinks I got Fiore (made in Italy). These are carried by Bina Warehouse (same fellas who do Hansgrohe).

This post has been edited by jchong: Jul 17 2011, 09:59 AM

Yeah, I didn't get any spare cartridges. Maybe I should buy a few to keep.

Congrats on the purchase. Did they tell you which model was from China and which from Germany?

Rainshower head comparison



Left: Grohe Cosmopolitan, Right: hansgrohe Raindance S 150 AIR 1-Jet

I've been using the Grohe for the last 3+ years. It's a large 160mm diameter head with 4 spray patterns, but I really just use the Rain function. Being such a large head the spray pattern is quite wide. The water spray is medium thickness and has a fine touch.

I've been intrigued by the hansgrohe AIR system for some time but never got one since I was quite happy with the Grohe. Anyway, with the recent Bina Warehouse sale I decided to pick up one to try. I bought the S 150 since that was the largest size. You would think with a name like S 150 the head is 150mm diameter, but in reality it is only 137mm. As you can see from the pic it is noticeably smaller than the Grohe.

Using the hansgrohe the first thing you notice is it is louder. Must be the air injection thing. The water spray is definitely thicker and has a more pulsing feel (very light massaging sensation), probably due to the air injection. The perception is that there is more water. The marketing material says it creates a "more voluminous feeling" and that is certainly true. Later I did test the actual flow rate by filling a bucket and timing it - the hansgrohe does in fact output 20% more water than the Grohe. Aside from that when washing the head and face, yes it does have a slightly softer feel than the Grohe.

So I'm happy switching over to the hansgrohe AIR shower head. Note: to really make full use of these large showerheads you need high water pressure.

BTW both heads are made in Germany.

This post has been edited by jchong: Aug 31 2012, 12:20 PM

One the nozzle is slightly larger and less chance for limescale to accumulate, and secondly because the nozzle is soft rubbing/touching it dislodges the limescale easily.

Was checking both manufacturer's websites. For Grohe, 60% are made in Germany. Hansgrohe 80% are made in Germany. The trick is finding out which are the items which are not made in Germany.

At least this site indicates which is from Germany and which from Thailand: http://sanihome-penang.blogspot.com/search/label/Grohe

If have budget can go with Grundfos.

Correct this model of the hansgrohe does not save water.

Actually most rainshowers are not the water saving type.

Yeah for Singapore, the standard is <9 liters/min flow rate for shower mixers and heads.

The ECO smart is built into the mixer, so that when you turn the handle it will restrict the output to 9l/min. The rainshower head itself can output more if you feed it more water (and if you have sufficient pressure). Edit: in your case the flow rate might be controlled by a filter insert since your set doesn't come with a mixer.

It's the same with my Grohe mixer, when you turn the handle there is a place where it will stop (and this is the Eco limit). But there is a button you can press to override the Eco limit and allows you to turn the handle to the max (if you want).

Anyway, the point is that there are several places where the flow rate can be controlled. Frankly though, to get the best feel out of a rainshower you need good pressure and high flow rate. Keeping it eco friendly won't give the best feel.

This post has been edited by jchong: Sep 5 2012, 08:12 AM

The piping sizes are quite standard so even if you buy online it should fit.

Then DHL not too smart. MY is correct code for Malaysia.

Myanmar is MM