August 2009 Showerhead Report: In test results, not all flows are a go

The recession has put a pinch on bathroom remodels, but you can still get an attractive makeover on a budget with these sub-$1,000 makeovers. (Some reports below are available to subscribers.)

Our "Top Kitchen & Bath Values" special adds another trick: Switch out your old showerhead for a new, water-efficient model. (Find out whether you should take a bath or a shower to maximize water savings.)

Ten of the 18 models in our latest report on showerheads use less than the federal maximum flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute; all meet the federal limit. But our panel of eight male and female testers, who together logged 269 showers between them, found only one model that could produce an invigorating spray. That’s an important point, as too weak a stream might result in longer, water-wasting showers.

Some tested showerheads aerate the spray to make it feel more substantial, but we found water temperatures dropped from 5° to 15°F from the time the water left the showerhead to the time it hit our bathers’ backs.

Our tested showerheads ranged from $20 to $190 in price; most are a DIY installation. We also tested three shower towers whose fixed sprays and handheld showerhead can turn a basic bath into a spa-ike retreat.

Before you buy a new showerhead, check your local ordinances for any water-use restrictions. You can also use our water-heater calculator to make sure your current heater, be it a conventional storage-tank or a tankless model, can handle the new flow requirements.

Another way to cut your water bill is to install a water-saving toilet. But as with showerheads, our latest report on toilets revealed only a few models that can save water without compromising performance.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Share your own experiences with your showerhead, shower tower, or toilet in the bathroom-fixtures topic of our newly redesigned forums. It’s worth a visit just to read these water-saving tips from a poster who claims to be an alien from a much greener planet.

Remodeling tips for first-time home buyers

A glut of unsold homes and plummeting prices are luring more first-time buyers into the market. According to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal, first-time home buyers made up more than 40 percent of all buyers at the end of 2008, up from 36 percent in 2006—when boomburgs and boomburbs were, well, booming.

If you're a recent first-time home buyer, you know what it's like to sign the roughly 439 closing-related documents, pay your lawyer and others who get a piece of the action (perhaps a buyer's broker, the title company, et al.), and put the key in the front door for the first time. The home is finally all yours.

And so is the Depression-era boiler, the 1960s paneling in the family room, or the mismatched array of disco-generation appliances. If you're planning major remodeling, renovating, or redecorating, use our Home Improvement Guide (shown). The free interactive is based on our unbiased, independent tests and includes information on dozens of products, including those mentioned below as well as mattresses, air conditioners, closet organizers, paints and stains, smoke and CO alarms, vacuum cleaners, and snow blowers.

• For a bathroom sink, consider an undermount model for its easy cleanup or a drop-in type for its lower cost and easier installation. You can also save in the bathroom by choosing a single-handle design for the faucet and vinyl tiles or planks for the floor. Learn more about bathroom remodeling.

• In our tests of kitchen flooring, plastic laminate has actually proved tougher than solid wood and engineered wood. Even bamboo did far better than before, though it's expensive.

• For your kitchen countertop, quartz—also called engineered stone and sold under such brand names as Caesarstone and Silestone—mimics natural stone better than ever, often costs less than granite and marble, and never needs resealing. You can also save by opting for today's better-looking laminate.

• When buying a range, look for a model with at least one large gas burner or higher-wattage electric element. And think twice before choosing a pro-style range. Many other ranges provide can comparable or better performance and greater overall reliability.

• When you need to replace your washing machine or dryer, focus on the washer, since performance of washing machines varies far more than it does among dryers.—Bob Markovich

Shower or bath: Which uses more water?

“Take showers instead of baths to save energy,” is an oft-repeated adage of water and energy conservation advocates. But the Department of Energy’s water-heater-sizing pages now list the average shower as consuming 12 gallons and the average bath only 9 gallons of hot water. 

The DOE is also saying that homeowners are using from 15 to 30 percent of their total energy budget just to heat water—up from an earlier 14 to 25 percent estimate. So is soaking instead of scrubbing the way to go?

A spokeswoman for the EPA (which provided the figures to the DOE) says the new figures were based on a study it commissioned in 2000 by independent water-engineering-and-management firm Aquacraft. Ten homes in Seattle were fitted with data loggers on the main water meters a separate meter was placed on the feed line to the water heater and the results measured over two separate two-week periods.

“The nine gallons was actually the actual average draw of water into a bathtub, but you’re talking about an event that can involve more than one draw of hot water,” says Aquacraft President Bill DeOreo. “So that’s not an accurate measure of total average use.”

Consumer Reports’ own experts believe the previous 20 gallons of hot water per bath that the EPA was using (which was in turn based on a studies done by the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association) to be still a better benchmark.

They also stress that the best way to save hot water is to take showers rather than baths, limit the time of showers, use a low-flow showerhead, and turn off any supplemental showerheads in each shower stall.

Many utilities and municipalities are following this advice. The Portland, Oregon Water Bureau has given away over 4,500 1.5- gallon-per-minute showerheads and 4,000 five-minute “Shower Timer” hourglasses to its customers.

“The hourglasses aren’t as functional as the low-flow showerheads and aerators we give away; they’re more of a behavioral tool,” says Sarah Statner of the Portland Water Bureau. “But we get a lot of positive feedback and hear they inspire more conversations about conservation than any showerhead every will.”

Also backing the move for water economy is the popular eco-blogger Crunchy Domestic Goddess, who has issued her own Five-Minute Shower Challenge that’s drawn numerous responses.—Gian Trotta

Essential information: Find out about the wide variety of high- and low-flow spraying options available Showerheads special. Our GreenerChoices.org Web site offers "50 Ways to Save Water." And see our October issue for a special comparing the performance of tankless, or on-demand, and conventional storage-tank heaters.

Low-flow bathroom faucets on the rise

The Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense label appeared on a number of bathroom faucets on display at last month’s Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago. (Many other WaterSense-labeled products were at the show, including the Caroma Sydney Smart 305 toilet.) Dozens of lower-flow bathroom faucets are now being marketed by companies like Delta, Gerber, Moen, and Price Pfister (whose Ashfield faucet is shown), and they have a maximum flow rate that’s about 30 percent lower than standard models. Interestingly, as part of the WaterSense program, an independent laboratory assesses compliance with existing faucet-construction and -performance standards as well as the additional WaterSense requirements.

WaterSense-qualified faucets provide a maximum flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute at 60 pounds per square inch. To keep manufacturers from introducing trickling faucets that could conceivably satisfy the WaterSense criteria but not consumers—echoes of the first generation of low-flow toilets—the EPA also mandated a minimum flow of 0.8 gpm at 20 psi.

Even if you’re not in the market for a new bathroom faucet, you can still save water by replacing the current aerators on your faucets with new ones ($3 and up) that limit water flow. If you’ve already installed WaterSense faucets, keep them flowing smoothly by clearing or replacing their aerators when they clogs.

The EPA is planning to add showerheads to the list of WaterSense products. I wonder how the agency expects to lower water consumption in showers at a time when multihead, multimedia-equipped spa-style showers seem omnipresent at the trade shows I attend. Think about it: If someone’s in a shower fitted with eight 2-gpm showerheads and a music player or TV, aren’t they likely to spend more time with the water running?—Ed Perratore

Essential information: Visit our Bed & Bath page for more details, including ideas for bathroom makeovers, reviews of toilets, and buying advice for countertops.