Bath or Shower?

TheGardener

Have we reached a point where a shallow bath with gas-heated water is cheaper than 10min in a 10.5KW electric shower? Its not a power shower and has a 'normal' shower head. 

daveyjp

Who needs 10 minutes in a shower? To save money cut it to 2 minutes and switch out the electric shower for a bath mixer tap with shower attachment.

TheGardener

daveyjp said:

Who needs 10 minutes in a shower? To save money cut it to 2 minutes and switch out the electric shower for a bath mixer tap with shower attachment.

I can reduce the time a little but I'm not a whippet and 2 mins won't do it for me. 

Aylesbury_Duck

TheGardener said:

Have we reached a point where a shallow bath with gas-heated water is cheaper than 10min in a 10.5KW electric shower? Its not a power shower and has a 'normal' shower head. 

I'd have thought that point was reached forever ago, surely? 

TheGardener

Aylesbury_Duck said:

TheGardener said:

Have we reached a point where a shallow bath with gas-heated water is cheaper than 10min in a 10.5KW electric shower? Its not a power shower and has a 'normal' shower head. 

I'd have thought that point was reached forever ago, surely? 

I don't know! That's why I asked. So it is much cheaper to have a bath then?

QrizB

TheGardener said:

Have we reached a point where a shallow bath with gas-heated water is cheaper than 10min in a 10.5KW electric shower? Its not a power shower and has a 'normal' shower head. 

Ten minutes in a 10.5kW shower will use 1.75kWh.

Heating 50 litres of water (enough for a shallow bath) from 10C to 40C will also use 1.75kWh.

Gas is still a lot cheaper than electricity so, even allowing for the efficiency of the boiler,  the bath will be cheaper. At current prices the shower will cost 50p and the bath 16p. From October, the shower will cost 91p and the bath 31p.

Even if you run your shower on the half-power "Eco" setting, the bath will still be cheaper.

(Is your shower over your bath? If you put the plug in while showering, you'll see how much water you use. I suspect a 10-minute shower at full power uses roughly the same amount of water as a shallow bath would.)

TheGardener

@QrizB Thank You - that's great. We do have a shower over the bath so I will check that. I don't mind which I have but the kidults in our house love their showers and look at me in horror if I suggest a shallow bath - the only bath worth having in their mind is neck deep with Lush bath bombs and candles everywhere - the problem is no one ever wants to clean up the wax and glitter/rosebuds afterwards 

macman

Hang on to the candles, they'll come in handy when the power goes off in winter..

Ultrasonic

TheGardener said:

daveyjp said:

Who needs 10 minutes in a shower? To save money cut it to 2 minutes and switch out the electric shower for a bath mixer tap with shower attachment.

I can reduce the time a little but I'm not a whippet and 2 mins won't do it for me. 

What matters is not the total time of the 'shower' but rather the time the water is actually on for. When I shower I just have water on for an initial rinse but then turn it off while applying soap/shampoo, and then back on to wash the soap off. I shower over a bath so I put the plug in the bath at the start and use the water that collects in the bath to lather soap. This approach saves water as well as whatever energy source is used to heat the water.

EcoScruples

4 mins is enough time to shower, my Mira sport has an Eco function that uses half the power, works well in summer but winter it struggles to heat the water at full flow.
Bearable though.

How many people use the bathwater? More than 1 and you can save on electric and water.

matelodave

To save even more, fit a shower mixer tap to the bath, then you can shower from the gas heated hot water. Fit an eco shower head and limit your shower time to 2-3 minutes and you can save both water and energy at the same time.

I'm no lightweight and I've still got all my hair and can shower in 90 seconds, washing my hair and all the important places (including between my toes). 2 minutes at 6lpm = 12 litres My wife takes a bit longer but still a lot less than four minutes.

When we are away in the caravan we wet-wash-rinse shutting the shower off when washing and we get away with around 5 litres of water using a trigger operated shower head.