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Around 25 percent of your household energy costs go towards heating water.
Not surprisingly, in many cases it’s your shower that contributes to this figure.
One easy solution to reduce hot water use, and save money on your electric bill, is to
install a low-flow showerhead in your bathroom. You’ll achieve water savings of between
25 and 60 percent and lower your energy costs. Showerheads that were installed before 1992
had higher flow rates, around five and a half gallons per minute. These days low flow efficient
showerheads have a flow rate of less than two and a half gallons per minute.To determine
whether you need a new showerhead, use a bucket marked in gallon increments to measure water
flow. Turn on the shower at the water pressure that you normally use and time how long it
takes the water to fill up one gallon. An inefficient showerhead will take less than
20 seconds to reach this mark. Low-flow showerheads are relatively inexpensive and installing
one in your bathroom is an easy way to be energy efficient.