What the Fienza shower range covers
This collection holds the Fienza shower line: fixed heads on wall arms, ceiling dropper sets, hand showers, rail showers, twin sets and arms. The line is built in named ranges that continue through the tapware, so a shower can match a mixer, a basin tap and the accessories. The finishes are chrome, matte black, brushed nickel, brushed brass, brushed copper, gun metal and white, and Fienza keeps finishes consistent across product categories so that shower, accessory and hardware finishes can be matched.
The range is large, so the useful question is not what Fienza sells but which range suits your bathroom. Across all of them, the decisions are type, size, flow, pressure, inlet and fit. For the matching tapware, see Fienza. The full range across makers sits in showers.
Choose the type first
- A head on an arm gives a steady wash. The arm sets here include the arm, so you buy one item. See shower arms and rain showers.
- A ceiling dropper set puts the head overhead. See ceiling showers.
- A hand shower gives a focused spray for rinsing and cleaning. See hand held shower heads.
- A rail shower puts the handset on a slider. See shower on rails.
- A twin set pairs an overhead and a handset on one rail with a diverter. See twin shower heads.
Kaya
Kaya is the largest family, and the one built around a very thin head. The Kaya round head is 250 mm across and only 2 mm thick, made from lead-free stainless steel with a brass swivel joint, a flange included and a female half inch BSP inlet. The arm sets come in a standard and a gooseneck shape, each with a 250 mm head. The finishes include chrome, matte black, matte white, brushed nickel, brushed copper, gun metal and urban brass, with the metallic colours in PVD and the others electroplated.
The Kaya twin sets are the range's main strength. The Kaya Retrofit Twin slots into an existing shower recess without a full re-plumb. It has a built-in diverter and a separate inlet, a 19 mm rail in stainless steel and brass, a slider for the handset and a 1.5 m flexible stainless steel hose. The handheld has three spray settings: normal, massage or combination. The Kaya Deluxe Twin has a 250 mm solid brass overhead, an integrated top water inlet and diverter and a slider that adjusts the handset height and angle. The Kaya rail shower has an adjustable length between the wall fixings, and the round plate hand shower is solid brass with a single flow setting and an all-in-one inlet and mounting bracket. See Fienza Kaya showers for the full set.
Empire and Empire Slim
Empire Slim has an 8 mm thin profile. The Empire Slim shower arm sets pair a 300 mm round rain head, 303 mm across, with an arm, a brass swivel joint and a female half inch BSP inlet. The head is a slim overhead rain shower in lead-free stainless steel. There is a gooseneck version of the arm set, a curved version, and a ceiling dropper set with a 300 mm arm and an overall height of 353 mm.
The Empire Slim curved twin shower has a curved design that gives wider spray coverage, with an integrated top water inlet and diverter and a slider on the rail. The Empire Slim rail shower has a fixed-length rail 30 mm by 10 mm, a slider, and a 1.5 m flexible stainless steel hose (PVC on the matte black model). The Empire Slim handheld has three water-flow settings and easy-clean TPR nozzles, and is made from ABS. Empire Slim is the range to choose for a slim, modern line. See Fienza Empire Slim range.
Lillian
Lillian is the heritage range. The Fienza shower exudes heritage charm, with a classic bush style round rain head 208 mm across on an upswept arm, in brass with a brass swivel joint. The Lillian multifunction rail shower pairs the 208 mm stainless steel head with a handheld on an all-brass rail, 22 mm thick. An integrated top water inlet and diverter switch the flow from the rain shower to the hand shower, and a knob on the side of the rail slides the handset. It comes in chrome, brushed nickel with a PVD finish, matte black and urban brass. See Fienza Lillian.
Choosing an Empire Slim arm
The Empire Slim arm sets come in three shapes, and the numbers decide the choice. All three carry the same 303 mm head, 8 mm thick, and the same 3 star, 9 litre per minute rating.
- The standard arm set has an arm length of 388 mm, a projection of 539.5 mm and an overall height of 124 mm. It holds the head well out from the wall with little rise.
- The gooseneck arm set has an arm length of 300 mm, a projection of 501.5 mm and an overall height of 324 mm. The extra height is the point of it, because it lifts the head when the wall outlet is low.
- The curved arm set has an arm length of 307 mm, a projection of 508.5 mm and an overall height of 450 mm, the most rise of the three.
- The ceiling dropper set has a 300 mm arm and an overall height of 353 mm. On a 2,400 mm ceiling that puts the head about 2,050 mm off the floor, inside the 2000 to 2100 mm band for a fixed head. Check the figure against your own finished ceiling height.
Pick by the wall outlet. Find the height of the outlet first: if it is too high, choose a straight arm, and if it is too low, choose a gooseneck. A low outlet suits the curved or gooseneck set, a normal outlet suits the standard set, and an open ceiling suits the dropper. For the wider arm range, see shower arms.
Hand showers, hoses and rails
The Fienza hand showers are small and simple. The Empire Slim round plate hand shower is a brass piece 120 mm across with a tilt function and a projection of 80 mm. It has an all-in-one water inlet and mounting bracket, and its box lists the hand shower, a wall bracket, a hose and a fixing kit. The Kaya hand shower round plate is the same size with a single flow setting, and the Isabella has the same round plate and a tilt function. The Empire Slim handheld, a separate item, is ABS with three flow settings: normal, massage and combination.
Size, pressure and flow
Size the head to the shower zone. Round fixed heads run at 200 to 300 mm, with 150 to 200 mm for low-pressure systems and 250 or 300 mm for rain heads, and heads over 250 mm suit good pressure unless a pump is fitted. The Fienza heads here run from 120 mm for hand showers through 200, 208, 250 and 300 mm for overheads. Because a larger face divides the same flow between more nozzles, the spray feels softer, not stronger.
Fienza showers are rated for an operating pressure of 150 to 500 kPa. A high-pressure style head changes the nozzle design to feel stronger but cannot increase mains pressure, and if the shower still feels weak the underlying plumbing should be checked first. A simple check at home is the bucket test. A 10 litre bucket that fills in under 60 seconds under the shower points to good pressure, and large overhead rain heads suit supplies above about 200 kPa.
Retrofit, inlets and the diverter
Most Fienza twin sets are written for replacement. The Kaya Retrofit has a separate inlet for retrofitting. The Kaya Deluxe, the Tono and the Empire Slim twin have integrated top water inlets with a diverter, and the Michelle and Stella are made for a bottom inlet. The overhead and the handheld share one water outlet, and the diverter sends the flow to one head or, on some models, both. A two-way diverter runs one head at a time and keeps pressure higher in each, while a three-way diverter allows both at once but each head feels weaker. Low pressure is the main limit for any set with two outlets, so test the shower at peak times before you choose.
Materials and finishes
Fienza showers are mostly stainless steel heads with brass swivel joints, solid brass rails and hand showers, ABS handsets and TPR nozzles that wipe clean. Finishes are electroplated, including chrome, matte black and matte white, or PVD, including brushed nickel, brushed copper, gun metal and urban brass. PVD is significantly harder and more durable than traditional plating, and electroplating is the traditional method for chrome. Confirm the finish process for the exact piece before you buy.
For finish-led browsing, see chrome showers, black showers, white showers, brushed nickel showers, brushed brass showers, gunmetal showers and bronze showers.
Heights
Set a fixed wall head at 2000 to 2100 mm above the finished floor to the centre of the arm outlet, and 2100 to 2200 mm for a tall household. The top of a rail sits at about 1800 to 1900 mm, and a wall mixer goes at 1000 to 1100 mm. Wall arms project 300 to 400 mm. A rain head on a ceiling arm sits at 2100 to 2200 mm, depending on the ceiling, with at least 20 cm between the head and the user's head. Confirm the heights at rough-in, before tiling.
Care and fit
Warm water, mild soap and a soft cloth are enough for routine care, followed by a rinse and a dry. Avoid abrasives and strong chemicals, and keep vinegar and lemon off a coated finish unless the care line allows them. In hard water areas, wipe the head and dry it after use. Rubber and TPR nozzles rub clean with a finger.
A like-for-like head swap on a standard half inch arm is a simple job. Moving an outlet, adding a diverter or changing the arm is not, and it needs a licensed plumber. The rules on what an owner may do themselves differ by state.
