Improved High-Efficiency Showerheads Make The Most of Lower Flows

Continued from page 1

The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes program allocates certification points for showerheads that operate at 2.0 gpm or less, and additional points for "very high efficiency" showerheads that operate at 1.5 gpm or less. The NAHB's Model Green Home Building Guidelines also provide points for low-flow shower fixtures.

Enhancing the Experience

The challenge, manufacturers say, is to give consumers the experience they expect while using less water. "There are quite a lot of options to reduce the flow rate of the showerhead and still have the showerhead have a good flow and feel good," says Michelle Troconis, product director of shower systems for American Standard. At their most basic, the technologies fall into two categories: those that change the shape or pattern of the spray nozzles and water droplets, and those that aerate the spray.

Hansgrohe's 1.6-gpm EcoAir system, for example, uses air-injection technology to suck air into the showerhead, which "helps boost the volume of the droplets coming out of the shower, so it feels like you're getting more volume then you actually are," explains marketing communications director Jason McClain. "It's the size of the water droplets that make it feel like you get more water."

Introducing air into the stream can sometimes reduce the temperature of the spray, however, causing the user to turn up the temperature to compensate. So other manufacturers are manipulating the shape or pattern of the flow. Delta's H₂Okinetic technology, for example, channels water so that each stream oscillates left and right, says Paul Patton, senior product development manager for Delta. "Now the whole area is filled with water, so you feel like you're getting blanketed with water."

Water Wary

While manufacturers say there is no need to sacrifice performance to save water, consumers who were dissatisfied with earlier low-flow technologies aren't rushing to try the newer products, says American Standard's Troconis. "They've already had some kind of experience with a low-flow showerhead, and it wasn't a good one," she explains.

Even plumbers who haven't had any problems can be wary because their customers aren't used to them. "It's not that they don't perform well," says Gary Kozan, co-owner of Ridgeway Plumbing in Boynton Beach, Fla., who has installed low-flow showerheads in multifamily units and a few single-family homes. "If the water flow is a little less than what they're used to, then they think something's wrong. It concerns me because I don't like getting callbacks." He says his builder clients often feel similarly: "They didn't want to hear the complaints."

Consumers also may be thrown off by the appearance of some low-flow showerheads, which can have as few as four holes in the face. "People are saying, 'Am I going to get enough water out of this?'" Patton says.

Meanwhile, some manufacturers haven't offered a broad range of designs, but that's set to change with a slate of new high-style choices coming out this year.