Bath or Shower?

Ultrasonic

TheGardener said:

Ultrasonic said:

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.

When I try that  - when I turn it back on the water is stone cold and I have to dodge the water until it heats up again - I've never understood how people can do that, it can take a minute or two to run warm again. It might work with tank or combi boiler but not with our electric shower.  

Yes I can totally see that what I do is not practical for you. When I turn my shower back on for the second phase I'm lucky that I think I could honestly stand under it immediately without it being cold, although I tend to turn it on without being under it and check it with my hand to avoid any unpleasant surprises!

Ultrasonic

TheGardener said:

I'd have to change the bath taps to put a mixer hose on - or get jubilee clips on to hold the mixer on - not practical when you have to remove them when we want to use the taps for a bath. 

Just on this point, would never having a bath be a viable option that made this more practical? Huge numbers of people never do (including me) but I appreciate it may be something you like to do.

BooJewels

I'm glad the electric shower thing has been mentioned by others - I was going to ask about it myself.  I have an electric shower and if you turn it off, then back on, it runs cold for several minutes before it gets warm enough to stand under again, so it's not a practical option for saving anything.   The shower switch is outside the room, so that's not practical either.

I do also have a push on hose for the bath taps to give me a shower from the boiler, which works really well, but the taps are at the opposite end of the bath from the electric shower/screen/tiles etc. so other than for hair washing, it's not that helpful for showering - not to mention the hose just ends up in the way if you try and run it to the other end, it needs to be several feet longer to have enough slack in it to be out of the way.  

I split the difference and put the plug in to catch my rinse water and use this for some of my usual under-shower processes, which has saved a little and I stand up wash some days too.

MisterMicawber

For years showers have been recommended as using less water than a bath. But the concern now is not the water but the cost of the energy.

If you're comparing a shower with a bath, the shower has the basic problem that all the energy is thrown away immediately as it goes straight down the drain with the water.

But with a bath you can choose when to throw away the energy by pulling out the bath plug. For as long as you keep the plug in, the heat in the water is being transferred to the room.

If you stay in the bath for half an hour, energy is being transferred to the room for all of this time. This isn't useful in the summer. But for around nine months of the year the heat will help to keep the house warm, saving the boiler from running to provide that amount of heat to the radiators.

In fact, if the water is left in the bath until it's cold, all the heat is saved and used to heat the house, making it effectively free to have a bath because all the heat is reused.

BUFF

your humidity will go up though unless you ventilate & if you ventilate then unless you have mvhr you will be pulling in colder air from outside .

Ultrasonic

MisterMicawber said:

If you're comparing a shower with a bath, the shower has the basic problem that all the energy is thrown away immediately as it goes straight down the drain with the water.

But with a bath you can choose when to throw away the energy by pulling out the bath plug. For as long as you keep the plug in, the heat in the water is being transferred to the room.

Those that have a shower at the end of a bath can choose to put the plug in and achieve the same result. The trouble with the approach of leaving water in the bath to cool though is that it's likely to lead to far more of a build up of soap residue round the sides of the bath. I'd guess it may make damp issues in the bathroom more likely too?

EcoScruples

One good thing about all this hot weather if you're brave enough, a cold shower uses very little electric, 3 out of 5 of us in my house take cold showers through the summer to help reduce energy costs.
I'm also able to shower at work every day which helps.

Van_Girl

Does the comparison change much for oil fired boilers?

shinytop

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. 

I timed myself in the shower at the weekend.  From pressing the shower button on to the water stopping after pressing off (it runs on for a few seconds) 58 seconds.  That's washing and rinsing everything properly and not rushing.  Any longer and I'd just be standing wasting time. I don't think I take longer in the (free) gym showers, maybe less time as they're more powerful.  

Here's a top tip;  time yourself in a cold shower and make that your target for a normal one. 

QrizB

Van_Girl said:

Does the comparison change much for oil fired boilers?

From October, oil is likely to be cheaper than mains gas. (With mains gas at 15p/kWh, oil will be cheaper if it's under £1.50 a litre.)