For many households, there is enormous potential for savings when showering in everyday life. And you don’t even have to shower less often, shorter and colder. Installing an economy showerhead can also significantly reduce the cost of hot water consumption. How strong the effect is depends on the model, as a current study by Stiftung Warentest shows.
According to this, consumers can reduce their energy and water costs by several hundred euros a year with some economy shower heads. Others, on the other hand, hardly bring anything. Of the 20 hand showers tested, the testers rated 14 models as “good”, three as “satisfactory” and three as “poor”.
According to a product test, around 15 liters of water per minute flow out of a conventional shower head. Most economy shower heads, on the other hand, let less than nine liters through. Only three supposed savings models consumed more than twelve liters in normal jet mode: “Hagebau Wellwater Natua”, “Prisma Premium Shower Head Wellness” and “Sanitop-Wingenroth AquaSu Armi” received the rating “poor” because of the weak saving effect.
Consumers don’t have to spend a lot of money first in order to then save. Many good models only cost 20 to 30 euros. The cheapest good ones in the test were the “Ikea Brogrund hand shower” (16 euros) and the “Hansgrohe Crometta 100 Vario EcoSmart” (20 euros).
How much money can be saved with the shower heads depends essentially on the type of energy that provides hot water in the specific household. Stiftung Warentest makes the following calculation: Anyone who takes a 10-minute shower 220 times a year with the 15-liter standard shower pays 545 euros if the water is heated with electricity and 263 euros if heated with gas. With the most economical shower head in the test (5.5 liters per minute), it only costs 200 euros for electricity and 96 euros for gas for the same shower time.
This corresponds to a saving of 345 euros in electricity costs or 167 euros in gas costs. Mind you, per person – a household with three showers will save three times as much.
Even for consumers who spend significantly less on water heating, for example because they have solar collectors on the roof, the saving shower head pays for itself quickly. Because the water itself also costs money – in the calculation example from Stiftung Warentest, 80 euros per capita and year are allotted to water and waste water alone.
From a purely practical point of view, the question still arises as to whether you no longer have to shower with economy shower heads to get just as clean? Stiftung Warentest writes: “Anyone who showers with the biggest savers has to live with the fact that they need a little longer to rinse out the shampoo from long hair.” Shower heads with a flow rate of eight to nine liters usually remove shampoo residue both quickly and economically.
Basically, there are two different technologies for the economy shower heads: Thanks to the built-in squeeze ring, shower heads with a flow limiter supply constant amounts of water even with different water pressures. Flow reducers, on the other hand, let more water through at higher water pressure. In apartments with high water pressure, Warentest therefore recommends models with a flow limiter.
You can read the complete test for a fee at www.test.de
