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Green Your Home For Winter: Install Efficient Showerheads

Lloyd Alter, Toronto

Lloyd Alter

By Lloyd Alter
Toronto, Canada | Sun Mar 23, 2008 01:21 PM ET

We have been listing the things you should do to prepare your home for winter, in order of bang for your buck, as determined by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), which figured out the cost in dollars per ton of carbon saved for each investment you make in time and money. See earlier posts here.

Almost as easy as wrapping your water heater, changing your shower head costs only $18.02 for every ton of carbon dioxide saved, and saves you $21 per year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that showers use about 17 percent of residential water use, totaling 1.2 trillion gallons per year.

Some of the super-savers like the Aqua Helix spit out as little as half a gallon per minute, but you might find that less than vigorous. Others, like the Neco with its "patented vacuum flow technology," offer an shower sensation similar to uncontrolled shower heads.

The EPA's WaterSense program is developing a performance specification for showerheads at this time, which will take into account water efficiency and performance. In the meantime, strike a balance between extreme savings (0 .5 gallons per minute) and moderation (2.5 gpm) and take shorter showers.

See also: ::Saving Water when You Shower

Difficulty level: Easy

 
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