Toto offers several shower trims. But, to control the temperature, Toto offers either a Pressure Balance Valve option or a Thermostatic option. Those are the rough brass valves that go inside the wall.
An example of how each work is, when someone flushes a toilet while someone else is showering, the cold water pressure will drop. In the old days, when we had separate hot and cold handles instead of a single lever pressure balance or thermostatic valve, the person in the shower would get a burst of hot water until the water pressure on the cold water returned ( after the toilet stops filling back up ).
To prevent this, a pressure balance valve has an internal piece that will move back and forth based on the pressure on the hot and cold inlets. When the toilet is flushed and the cold water pressure drops, the pressure balance valve will adjust itself to keep the water temperature the same by sliding the internal piece more to one side to block the excess hot water from coming through and scalding the person in the shower.
A thermostatic valve will adjust too. But, instead of having an internal moving piece, it has a thermostatic metal element that expands or contracts based on the water temperature and the set point to keep the same consistent temperature for the shower user. The metal element that Toto uses is called a Shape Memory Alloy. It’s a really cool little part. It’s a coiled up spring, basically, that remembers it’s shape depending on what temperature the water is and where it was set ( by the handle on the trim). So, It naturally wants to return to that same shape all the time. As it adjusts it shape ( the water gets hotter ) it limits the amount of hot water coming into the valve to keep the scalding burst from happening. When the temperature drops back down, it returns to it’s original shape. It’s awesome technology!
Toto’s pressure balancing valves adjust the temperature of the water and also control the on/off of the flow. So, all the way down is “off”. As you turn it on, you go from cold to warmer to hot as you keep turning the valve. If the customer has a shower head and a tub spout, they just need to make sure the tub spout has a diverter. Then, when they turn the handle on and pull the diverter on the tub spout, the water comes out of the shower head. However, if they want to add additional spray heads ( like a hand held, etc.) they need to add a 2 way or 3 way diverter.
Toto’s thermostatic valves only control the temperature. So, you either need to add a volume control with the trim or you need to add a 2 way or 3 way diverter “with off”.
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