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The Daily Fix

Five Quick Showerhead Replacements

FHB_WEB, member

7 users recommend

Massage stream showerhead

Handheld showerhead

Rain shower

Massage stream showerhead

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by Nena Donovan Levine

You can change the feel of your shower in less time than a commercial break during a Sunday baseball game. All you need are a pair of pliers, Teflon tape, and, of course, a new showerhead. Because results may vary from the descriptions in marketing literature, try to find a showroom where you can see and feel the shower spray. (Prices below are dependent on finish).

1. Massaging stream Sore back from a day of yardwork? The Moen Revolution claims to have the cure. Flip the lever, and the flow switches from a rainshowerlike spray to a Swedish massage. Its stream is something out of Cirque du Soleil: The water spins and twirls. $60-$66
2. Handheld Handhelds can mean choosing between using the wand in the fixed position, where many models won’t stay put, or holding the wand while most of your body stays dry. Alsons In2ition nesting showerheads lock the wand inside the showerhead; when it’s disengaged, you can direct water to both showerhead and wand for full coverage. $175-$220
3. Rain shower The Moen Velocity has enough coverage to satisfy any water-loving mammal. Use all 100 nozzles to re-create a spring shower, or flip the lever to concentrate water through just 30 jets. $172-$300
4. Guilt free For those who have trouble stepping out of the shower until the hot water runs out, conservation-minded fittings like Oxygenics showerheads use as little as 1.3 gallons per minute at 65 psi. $34-$58
5. Timeless classic Speakman’s Anystream line of burly, solid-brass showerheads features dozens of adjustable spray streams and a pressurecompensating internal valve to maximize spray strength. Versions of this invigorating showerhead have been around for 50 years, and many are still in service. $47-$169

Read the complete article... Showers in the Forecast From showerheads to spa showers, new options look good and feel great by Nena Donovan Levine

Additional bathroom and plumbing advice: Bath Upgrade: Installing a New Sink and Faucet Follow these detailed steps for replacing a bathroom sink and faucet Bathroom Layouts that Work A good layout is key to a successful bath remodel. The seven sins of bathroom design If you err while constructing or remodeling your new bathroom, repenting can be quite a challenge

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Comments (6)

Eggburt writes: I have an Oxygenics handheld with three spray settings at it is GREAT. I live in a low water pressure zone and can still get a good shower with this unit.
Posted: 5:14 pm on April 13th

Rocketj writes: Not to dampen CBFarley's comment, there is a "water cycle", which means water goes through states, but doesn't disappear. Water stored at the polar caps as ice, kind of just stays there. If we change its state from solid to liquid, it enters the liquid-vapor cycling regimen, and using it doesn't change the water levels at the coast. Rain falls, is used, evaporates, goes into clouds, and starts over.
Posted: 6:52 am on April 10th

cbfarley writes: While I agree conservation is an admirable goal, I refuse to live my life with a lifeboat mentality. The end is not as near as some "percentage of the population" would have you believe.

Water is a renewable resource pure and simple. And if it isn't shouldn't we be using as much as possible to stave off rising water levels due to global warming?

All things in moderation, and these are simple guilt free pleasures.

Calling these 10GPM monsters or even saying that there are 10GPM units out there is a lie because the Federal Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandates that "all faucet fixtures manufactured in the United States restrict maximum water flow at or below 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) at 80 pounds per square inch (psi) of water pressure or 2.2 gpm at 60 psi."

The more you know, the more you grow:

http://www.usbr.gov/power/legislation/epa92.pdf

Posted: 12:07 pm on April 8th

TommyGunn writes: Calm down, gentlemen! You can't buy a showerhead, or faucet, or toilet that isn't a water conserving fixture anymore. They all conserve water and this article simply gives the builder/homeowner a choice of sprays and styles. Enjoy!
Posted: 7:57 pm on April 7th

Duke's son writes: Water conservation should be paramount above all else. Just because a percentage of the population thinks its cool or sexy to sit in a spa tub or stand in a shower for half an hour, pumping out water at the rate of 10 gallons per minute, does not make it environmentally ethical. The whole of North America and for that matter the world, is on the brink of a severe potable water shortage. To be advertising these showers and personal care products that do not demonstrate due diligence as far as water conservation is conserned, is environmentally unethical.
In the very near future it will be illegal to use or sell these types of products that use water in an environmentally unsustainable fashion. So get with the program and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
Posted: 11:58 am on April 6th

JamesScott writes: It's great to see that there is some flexibility for homeowners but there is only a hint at conservation.

The showers at the local hockey rink have push style activators that have an auto shut-off feature. Are these products readily available for residential applications?
Posted: 9:41 am on April 6th

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