Do you know how old your home and its plumbing fixtures are? The standard shower head in a home built before 1992 uses approximately five shower gallons per minute. For a family of four taking 10-minute showers each day, the amount of gallons of shower water being used in this home every year easily passes 70,000. While modern homes are not as wasteful, their shower heads cannot be described as water saving. Reducing shower gpm to an amount at, or under, 2 gallons per minute at home significantly reduces water use, energy use, and the utility bill.
Let’s see how much water is being used with different shower gpm fixtures:
Unless the water is completely cold, the amount of water used in a shower also affects the amount of residential energy used. Heating water is the 3rd largest energy expense in a home. Reducing the shower gallons per minute reduces the amount of money spent on water heating. The amount saved depends on your current fixture, as well as the water heating system.
This chart will help you see possible savings once you’ve switched to a low flow model:
If you are still hesitant to install a lower shower gpm fixture in the bathroom , rest assured that the technology used in the shower heads is such that allows the fixture to require less water without sacrificing comfort. As we get closer to Earth Day 2011, take some time to consider how shower gallons per minute impact your home.