Water Conservation

Water Conservation

A Long Journey Begins With A (Low-Flow) Shower

by John Poole,  homeenergypros.com

They say a long journey begins with a few small steps. Yesterday, I unofficially initiated the long-term energy retrofit of the Poole Ancestral Homestead by simply installing a water saving showerhead.

The new showerhead is a 1.5 gallon-per-minute, all brass, chrome finished, Victorian-styled showerhead made by Danze, which I obtained from my friends at Energy Circle.

It replaces an older, still functional but somewhat less decorative, 2.5 gpm showerhead that I’d gotten some time ago in an efficiency kit from the water company.

Installation began with a diverter, since we have a need here for a hand-held shower for an elderly person. The hand-held I’d chosen was a less expensive Delta, also Victorian style, with a 2.5 gpm flow. That was fine, because over time, the hand-held gets less use than the fixed one, so it was important to me that the fixed showerhead be more efficient.

Next, I replaced the shower caddy, because there was no way it was going to fit back on after the installation was completed (I gave myself a big pat on the back for thinking of this at this stage in the project ) Then, I installed the hose for the hand-held, and the new showerhead.

Here’s how it looks with everything in place. The two heads side-by-side are somewhat imposing, aren’t they? But so be it (I actually rather like some heft to installed fixtures, anyway).

When I “test fired” the Danze showerhead, I found that, true to advertising, it didn’t seem like a low-flow fixture. It felt just like the more generous showers of the distant past.

My only (rather minor) complaint is that the Danze seems to amplify changes in water temperature. In this bath, there are hot and cold valves controlling the water, and when I ever so slightly turned the hot water up, it felt like I got a much more dramatic rise in temperature than with the older showerhead. I can’t explain why this is the case, but it just means being more careful when adjusting the hot water. (I’m not sure if a smart shower control value would work in this case, but it might be worth investigating).

Otherwise, the Danze water saving showerhead is clearly a winner. And it will conserve a lot of water over the long run.