monitoring water use, comparing showerhead rating vs reality
acrobaticnurse_Eli
| Posted in General Questions on
I’d considered getting a 1.25gpm showerhead to decrease water use but was worried it wouldn’t be enough since our current showerhead is rated at 1.75gpm, which we’ve been perfectly happy with. Then I installed a flume water sensor to get the reading directly from the outdoor meter and found that my current shower head is consistently only putting out 1.1gpm. To verify, I filled a container, weighed the zeroed container on a scale, and it matched the 1.1gpm reading. This may be part of why we never run out of hot water 😉
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Replies
You may want to remove your shower head an clean it/soak it. Could be partially blocked up with gunk.
I think they are rated at a particular water pressure, perhaps yours is lower than that spec.
I suspect our water pressure is lower than spec. We have a PRV valve that could be adjusted but I'm inclined to leave it at is as long as we're not having issues.
That particular shower head would also likely benefit from cleaning even though only a couple years old.
The main thing I gained/wanted to share from the experience was that I'd been concerned that 1.25 gallons per minute would be too little for us, particularly for my wife with waist length hair, and then found that the showerhead we've been happy with is apparently running at only 1.1 gpm.
I measured the water pressure at my two hose bibs, one being right where the water supply enters my house, before the pressure reducing valve, and the other is one of the most peripheral plumbing fixtures of the house, after the pressure reducing valve. Both measured 35 PSI. Low, but not too low. This also tells me that adjusting the PRV would likely be a waste as it isn't doing anything ;-)
I'd already been considering a new showerhead and ended up ordering one from High Sierra Showerheads that claims to be immune to buildup due to its design. Rated for 1.5 gpm, it still put out 1.1 gpm. The showerhead in the other bathroom actually puts out 1.6 gpm while being rated for 1.75 gpm but feels about the same as the other two that put out 1.1 gpm. I'm inclined to prefer lower flow as long as it feels sufficient and my wife is happy with it.
Shower heads are normally rated at 80 PSI.
I'm a huge fan of the High Sierra heads. They work great, save a ton of energy.