I don’t want to appear to lack too big a clue but from the MSNBC link about new energy price regulations they had this little diagram showing how much energy (relative to cost) certain retrofits saved. How does a faucet aerator (per the sink and bath example listed below) which makes the water fizzier save money?
$ Product Cost
Payback time in months
% Return on
investment
Or don’t. Low-flow showerheads and faucets are personally annoying, enforcement is difficult and they conserve something that the government keeps underpriced anyway. In other words, they’re dumb.
-Nothing personal sailor, but I like my showers wet not humid, and in most places in the US water is downright cheap. When my mother moved into a new house two years ago all the showers had restrictors that had holes in them only about an eighth of an inch across, and the faucets were about half of that. One visit I had to use the shower. The next visit I brought tools to drill out all the water restrictors to at least a quarter-inch. (they used to use a small metal disk that you could easily remove, but the law was changed to say that the restriction couldn’t be “easily removable”, -so usually somewhere along the line there’s a thin plastic part that you can drill or break the center out of, but cannot remove completely because the faucet/shower head won’t fit together right without the part) She commented that previously it took twenty minutes to fill the bathtub and if you used hot water by the time the tub was full the water was considerably less than hot.
A vast improvement in shower/bath quality, and Mom has yet to complained about the water bill. - MC
MC, far be it from me to restrict your God-given right to pleasurable showers as contained in the US Constitution and the Magna Shower. Only liberal eco-commies would dare restrict this inalienable right.
OTOH, some of us like saving a cent or two. Water is cheap but heating it ain’t. The water restrictors you mention are a lousy solution. All the do is the same as if you keep the valve half shut. If you have a normal showerhead the result is lousy.
Low flow showerheads are special and I am very happy with them. You can take a very pleasurable shower in much less water flow saving a lot of energy and dough.
Low flow showerheads require a fair amount of pressure so they are the opposite of the flow restrictors you are talking about. If you try them I think you would not object to them. For those who like to save a dime they are great.
But, as I say, I am all for freedom to buy and use things whichever way you want. You enjoy leaving all the lights in your house on? Fine by me as long as you pay the bill. If you want to fill up your swimming pool with hot water, be my guest. I only object is someone else has to pay. As long as you pay, you are the only one who can determine what it’s worth to you.
A low flow showerhead saves money by reducing water flow.
A faucet aerator will reduce water flow slightly. But so what? Unless you are really in a hurry, you just take a little longer to fill the tub to the level you want it. You use the same amout of water, it just takes a little longer to fill.
Faucet aerator’s save money, because they make it appear there is more water flowing than there really is. Thereby causing the human to reduce the flow. People tend to leave the water running while shaving, or brushing one’s teeth, doing dishes etc… Since aerator’s make a fuller flow, the faucets can be turned/restricted down.
[OT]
As for low flow shower heads… IMHO they do not work well. I also tend to drill out, or remove the flow reducing ports installed in these devices. They work much better. I like a pelting shower, I do not like thin needle like streams of water, that lose a large percentage of their heat in the few feet from shower head to my back. FTR I’ve even ported brand new Delta faucets to increase the flow. [/OT]
>> As for low flow shower heads… IMHO they do not work well
danvanf, I think I know what you mean but you have not worded it well. Low flow showerheads work fine in the sense that they achieve what they are supposed to. You are entitled (of course) to prefer the regular ones but I have low flow showerheads and they work fine for me.
I think we may be talking about different types. As I said, a flow restrictor in the form of a disc with a hole, does not make a low flow showerhead. That is no better than just keeping the valve partly closed to restrict the flow.
True low flow showerheads do not have these flow restrictors and, as I said, they require a fair amount of pressure to work well.
Aerators don’t save energy per se, but save water. While it won’t save water for filling a certain volume ie a tub or one cup of water, it will save for time based use of water such as showering or washing your hands or kitchenware. You can liken the aeration to stick vs. whipped tub butter. You will get more volume for an equivalent weight with tub butter cause it’s been whipped (with air bubbles)
Aerators might not be all that great, but there are these amazing devices that are essentially aerators with an on/off lever, for use with kitchen sink faucets that have one spigot but separate hot & cold knobs. The point is that you can adjust the hot & cold knobs to get your optimum temperature and then use the nifty device to turn the water on and off (when you need to rinse the dish you’re washing).
As opposed to leaving the water running the whole time, or dancing back and forth between the hot and cold knobs every time you want some more water.
Not only saves a lot of water and energy (to heat the water), it makes dish washing a much more pleasant experience (so far as that’s possible, of course…)