Rain Chains Options
We have all heard about conventional rain gutters that come with downspouts. Well, there are new players in town, and their name is Rain Chains. Rain chains are an alternative to conventional downspouts. Instead of an enclosed opaque downspout that directs and guides water safely to a drain or water collection container, you get a series of “cups” successively linked with each other with chains that span vertically. Each cup comes with a hole at the bottom that guides collected water down to another cup below it, and so on until the water reaches the drainage or collection point. At The Rain Gutters, we offer a wide variety of rain chains to our clients.
Rain chains serve the same purpose as downspouts, with a plus on the optics. The rain water runoff is distributed from the rain gutter downwards to the rain chain cups. Here, the water speed is checked as the fall is braked as the water flows from cup to cup downwards. They originated from Asian culture, specifically from the Japanese. Apart from the primal use of the rain chain, they create beautiful water features as they visibly guide rain water down to drainage or water collection points.
Ornamental Features
Rain chain cups come in different designs, shapes, and sizes. Creativity thrives in the making of such chain cups as different shapes and especially designs are tried out. This gives the rain chains an ornamental feature that makes them elegant home accessories. Among the cup designs include iron flower cups, medium square cups, arts and crafts cups, aluminum flared cups and double loops.
The rain chain cups can be designed to reflect a certain theme, for example, shapes of flowers, fruits, etc. One can get to choose the type of link chains and colors they want them to come in.
Rain chains, like downspouts, come in different materials including brass, zinc, copper, iron, and aluminum. They are also available in different colors to match your home theme and painting.
Performance Controversy
Many clients often pose the question, “Are rain chains effective in guiding rain water safely down into a drainage or water collection point?” This is a very legitimate question. After all, from mere sight, downspouts are hollow “vent pipes” that guide rain water from the gutter in a fast, efficient way. Rain chains, on the other hand, have cups.
Truth is, the cup sizes are large enough to accommodate heavy flow of water, hence eliminating the doubt of low scale performance.
Bored of traditional dull-looking downspouts? Try rain chains today!