Banging pipes and dripping taps — do I need a pressure-reducing valve for high mains pressure?

Short answer: banging pipes, dripping taps and appliances failing early are classic symptoms of mains pressure that's too high — and a pressure-reducing valve (PRV) is exactly the fix. It's a valve fitted on the incoming main that caps the pressure entering your home to a safe, steady level (commonly set around 3 bar). One PRV can quietly cure several problems you're treating separately.

How to know it's high pressure: - Water hammer — the banging/knocking when a tap or appliance valve shuts suddenly. High pressure makes the shockwave worse. - Dripping taps & running toilets — seals and washers can't hold back excessive pressure, so they weep and fail early. - Short appliance life — water heaters, washing-machine and dishwasher inlet valves, and flexible hoses all suffer and fail sooner under high pressure. (This is also why over-pressure bursts those flexi hoses that flood a cupboard.) - Spitting/forceful taps and relief valves weeping. - The real proof: a plumber puts a pressure gauge on a tap. Much above ~4–5 bar and it's worth reducing; a PRV is typically set around 3 bar.

What a PRV does and where it goes: it's fitted on the incoming mains (where the supply enters the property) and holds the downstream pressure at the set level regardless of what the mains does — high floors and areas with strong mains pressure benefit most. Set-and-forget once it's in (though the valve itself should be checked periodically).

So you're likely not chasing three separate faults — you may have one cause (high pressure) behind the hammer, the drips and the appliance wear. Get a licensed plumber to gauge the pressure and fit a PRV if it's high. Anyone fitted one and had the banging just… stop?