Energy cost for having a shower versus having a bath

Merlin139

Trying to workout why a shower last 10 Minutes?

I can wash and rinse my whole body in under 5 minutes. Maybe because I don't get into a shower to relax? If I wanted to do that I would increase the number of Bath's that I have per year from 1 to ? 

For me I also use far less water in a shower as I turn the flow down and even stop the water. Somewhere between 3 to 7 litres an minute. 

littlemoney

Sapindus said:

We are told this repeatedly by the water companies et al, that a shower is cheaper and uses less energy.  I am pretty sure that I use more energy since I switched to a shower, for the simple reason that the shower is so much easier to pop into that people have one every day or even twice.  I didn't have a bath every day.  Once you've run the bath, it doesn't take any more energy the longer you spend in it, apart from a bit of topping up.  If you get in the shower wanting to relax, it just goes on and on eating water and electricity.

When I was a kid, bath night was once a week.  Hair could be washed in a bucket over the bath, and bodies could be washed standing at the sink. 

I remember the same when I was young. Do we wash ourselves and our clothes more often because it is so easy to do so. I remember a weekly use of the washing machine with a small tub and mangle. My job was to refold the sheets after going through the mangle. The weekly wash took many hours to complete, now it's so easy just put it in the machine and walk away. In winter bath night was a tin bath in front of the Rayburn and the same water was used by each member of the family. Saved water and energy.

SirMSE

Use a bucket and fill it up with hot water. Isn't that cheapest?

QrizB

We've been discussing the cost of a shower over on the Energy forum recently (here and here).

Instantaneous electric showers range from 7.2 to 10.5kW. Assuming you spend five minutes in a 9kW shower, you will use around 0.75kWh:

• Typical E7 night rate, 20p/kWh - 15p
• Single rate, 28p/kWh - 21p
• Typical E7 day rate, 36p/kWh - 27p

Electric showers flow around 5 litres per minute, so a 5-minute shower will use 25 litres. At £3 per cubic metre (0.3p per litre) that's another 7.5p. (For a given shower temperature, lower-powered showers use less water; higher-powered ones use more water.)

Mixer showers tend to use more water, roughly double - around 10 litres per minute, so a 5-minute shower will use 50 litres of water. Heating 50 litres of water from 10C to 40C will take 1.75kWh.

• Gas: 8p/kWh, shower costs 14p.
• Oil or LPG: 10p/kWh, shower costs 17.5p.
• E7 night rate: 20p/kWh, shower costs 35p.
• Single rate: 28p/kWh, shower costs 49p.
• E7 day rate: 36p/kWh, shower costs 63p.
  

Plus 15p for 50 litres of water.

Baths vary in size, but Bathbarn suggest that a typical one holds 100 litres, double the volume calculated for a mixer shower above. Thet's roughly what mine takes too.

Heating 100 litres of water from 10C to 40C will take 3.5kWh.

• Gas: 8p/kWh, bath costs 28p.
• Oil or LPG: 10p/kWh, bath costs 35p.
• E7 night rate: 20p/kWh, bath costs 70p.
• single rate: 28p/kWh, bath costs 98p.
• E7 day rate: 36p/kWh, shower costs 126p.

Plus 30p for 100 litres of water.

northernsoul

From actual readings from the gas meter.
A 5 minute 'rainforest' shower head over an average of 5 showers used   2.14kwh. At unit cost of 0.0394 a 5 minute shower cost 8.4p
3 minutes cost 5.2
4 minutes cost 7.4p
6 minutes cost 9.4p
Not had a shower over 6 minutes.
A bath full to overflow , over 9 readings , used an average of 5.84kwh. At 0.0394 a full bath cost 23p

Woolsery

Merlin139 said:

Trying to workout why a shower last 10 Minutes?

Indeed, but add shaving and cleaning the thing afterwards and you might be close to 10 mins.

maisie_cat

I wonder how many people have recently timed a shower? It takes me less than a minute on a normal day and about 3 minutes if I wash my very long hair. I am of the turn it on & wet body, turn if off and wash, then on again to rinse brigade though.

prowla

How is the shower's water heated?

[Deleted User]

Woolsery said:

Merlin139 said:

Trying to workout why a shower last 10 Minutes?

Indeed, but add shaving and cleaning the thing afterwards and you might be close to 10 mins.

Shaving in the shower ? 🤔

Woolsery

I don't think shaving in the shower is against the law yet.

Even if it becomes so, I'll still keep doing it until the Shower Police drag me away to the Abultionary Re-education Centre.