The Simple Shower Upgrade That Can Help Lower Your Electric Bill

If your electric bill is through the roof and you're looking for ways to cut back, there's one unexpected place to start: your shower. Now, there's nothing like a nice, hot shower. But an outdated, inefficient showerhead could actually be raising your electric bill. The solution, thankfully, isn't to switch to lukewarm or cold showers; instead, just swap out your showerhead for a more efficient one.

To put it simply, heating water is expensive. And with the average five-minute shower using anywhere from 10 to 25 gallons of water, the cost adds up to a whopping 18 to 20% of your energy bill each month. But by exchanging your outdated showerhead for a more efficient one, you could save more than 300 kilowatt hours each year, which could lower your bill by $53 on average, depending on where you live.

If the idea of a low-flow showerhead makes you wince, don't worry; those dreaded weak fixtures are long gone, thanks to the EPA's WaterSense label. To be WaterSense-certified, the showerhead must provide the same or better experience than their inefficient counterparts and use 2.0 gpm (gallons per minute) of water, along with other strict criteria. This way, you can still enjoy a hot, relaxing shower without worrying about the electric bill or missing a single minute of water pressure.

Ready to tackle this bathroom shower upgrade? The first step to switching to a more efficient showerhead is to decide if you actually need to. If you have your showerhead's original packaging, check to see what the flow rate is. For the most energy savings, it should use no more than 2.0 gpm. If it doesn't say or you're not sure, there's an easy way to tell. Grab a bucket with the gallons listed on the side (a graduated measuring bucket is perfect), and put it under your shower's spray. Turn the shower on as you usually would and clock how long it takes for the water to hit the one gallon marker. If it's less than 20 seconds, you need a more efficient showerhead.

Finding a Watersense-certified showerhead is easy. The secret? Look for the Watersense's label (a white circle rimmed in blue with a green and blue water drop in the middle) at the hardware store. Or, if you prefer to do some research beforehand, the EPA has a database full of certified showerheads to choose from.

Once you've found the right one, you can change out your old showerhead in less than an afternoon. Remove the old showerhead (most will come off with a few quick turns, but pliers can come in handy if it's stuck). Wipe any debris off the shower arm, then attach the new showerhead. Run a quick shower to make sure everything works properly and you're good to go!