Showering is by far the biggest hot-water consumer in the home. A water-saving shower head then sounds like an easy saving, but how much does it really make a difference? We do the honest maths.
How much water does a shower use?
An ordinary comfort shower head easily uses 10 to 12 litres per minute, and large rain showers sit well above that. With an average shower of around 9 minutes, 90 to well over 100 litres go down the drain each time, and most of that is heated water.
What does a water-saving shower head do?
A water-saving shower head limits the flow. The Besjaar shower heads use a maximum of 8 litres per minute and enrich the water with air, so the spray keeps feeling full and even. Important to know: the real saving is not on your water bill, but in the energy you no longer need to heat all that water.
Worked example: a household of two
Suppose your old shower head uses 12 litres per minute and the new one 8. You both shower daily for about 9 minutes. That is 4 litres per minute less, so 36 litres per shower, and with two people well over 26,000 litres per year. Because almost all of that is hot water, the saving quickly adds up to well over a hundred euros per year depending on your energy tariff and how you heat water, on top of around 26 m³ on the water bill. If you shower shorter or less often, the saving is lower; with a larger family or longer showers it is higher. In virtually every household the shower head pays for itself within a few months.
Do you give up comfort?
The question everyone asks. Thanks to the air-enriched spray, 8 litres per minute does not feel like a thin trickle: the pressure stays high and the spray even. To be fair: if you love the heavy waterfall feeling of a large rain shower, you will notice a difference. If you want a powerful, pleasant spray with three or ten settings, you will mainly notice the difference on your energy bill.
Saving even more
Shorter showers remain the biggest lever: a shower timer or one song works surprisingly well. Turn off the tap while soaping up. And keep your shower head free of limescale: limescale blocks the nozzles and lowers the pressure, so you unconsciously shower longer.
Conclusion: how much do you really save?
For an average household: tens of thousands of litres of water and well over a hundred euros per year, without giving up a pleasant shower. Take a look at the Besjaar Shower Head with 3 settings or the complete collection of water-saving shower heads.