Q: We are renovating our home and are looking for hand-held shower heads that are affordable and low flow yet still have decent pressure. First, could you help me understand what is considered low flow? I've seen shower heads with a rate of 2.5 gpm listed as low flow on the packaging, but I had always thought that anything 2 gpm or less was low flow. Second, do any of your readers know of any to recommend?
Sent by Wendi
Editor: As far as we understand, any showerhead with a flow under 2.5 gpm is technically considered "low flow." However, it's obviously preferable to shoot for the lowest number possible that still gives you an enjoyable shower.
Check out these posts for some of our recommendations:
• The Best Low Flow (Yet High Pressure) Showerheads
• Low Flow Guide: US EPA WaterSense
• Evolve Showerhead Adaptor
• Kohler WaterSense Showerhead
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Comments (2)
I have an fixed mount Waterpik Ecoflow that I got from target for $30. There is a handheld version that I've never used, but has the same head design. They both use 1.5 gallons per minute and have a button that lets you switch it to .5 gallons for when you are soaping up. The pressure on mine seems good. (My house has high water pressure in general.) The 2.5 gallon shower head we replaced had more pressure, so I initially felt disappointed with the Waterpik, but after a week I got use to the weaker pressure. I haven't had any problems getting soap/shampoo rinsed away and am quite happy with it.
It's a simple showerhead, so someone looking for one with bells and whistles probably won't like it. Also, the parts that are intended to move (button, head position, mode changer) are tight and hard to move initially. They become easy to move after you have used them for a bit, but someone with weak hands might have problems with them.
i also have a waterpik ecoflow of some sort. can't find the one i have online right now, but it has both a fixed shower head and a hand held component. was about $30 at a local "green living" store. i barely noticed the change in water pressure when we switched to the low-flow. my husband noticed it more than i did, but still seems happy w/ the water pressure of the low-flow shower head. an added benefit - we used to run out of hot water fairly quickly with our old shower head. with the low-flow shower head (which we've had for about a year now), haven't run out of hot water once.