ecocamel. Energy/water saver showerhead

1jim

I bought one of these ecocamels from severntrent water some time ago, I didnt find it cheaply made, looks quite good, I live in hard water area of the eastmidlands and have not yet had to descale it! Also only had it once where the water dripped out of the hole (which the air gets sucked in through) and that was because I hadnt turned the tap off fully but as the hose hands over the bath anyway the water just driped harmlessly away!
I have not kept records but I have noticed that it does use less water without you noticing it as you shower if you see what I mean, not on water meter so cant see if any proof of change to water use but as this limits the water flow it must do (also I did the test of old shower head with plug in and then new shower head next day and signifcant reduction in water use noted)
Have had lower gas bills but installing the new shower head coincided with having new boiler installed so may help a bit

Anyway my advice would be to get one and have a look at it, if it looks cheap and nasty to you then you can always send it back under distance selling regs

dmja

has anyone tried the Multishower head? Been looking at the info on it and sounds like a better alternative - doesnt add air to the water so might avoid the need to up the temperature....

1jim

i have not had to up the temperature with the ecocamel

[Deleted User]

our 3 ecocamels were from severn trent too and are all good substantial quality. Our shower is hot and adjustable. Very very good

1jim

the sceptics/dissenters all seem to be new posters, 1-3posts only, I wonder if there is somthing going on here????

popkid

Just thought I'd post this fyi:

Know there has been some skepticism in this thread about 1st time posters but please bear with me and read through as I think it is balanced useful info (and we all have a 1st post once don't we?)

Bought one of these at the weekend as we needed a new shower head in any case and I was at a show where they were on offer at a reduced £22, (I wouldn't have had the vaguest idea how much a "normal" shower head would cost, and it seemed reasonable enough at the time, quality seemed fine too btw, but I've since googled it and £22 is probably 2-3 times more than a standard DIY store head) I just bought it because I liked the feel of the water jet and figured it wasn't that expensive, our water isn't metered so there is no direct cost saving for us but I do try to be a little green and eco, so the feelgood factor came into it a little.

Anyway, there was a demo being given at this show with the head attached to a mixer tap and whilst there was a noticeable subjective difference in the "feel" of the shower, i.e. it felt more powerful than our mixer tap head at home I wasn't 100% convinced as this could have been down to water pressure on the display, I wasn't convinced either by the promises of water saving, couldn't see how it would make much of a difference, I'm an engineer and I don't take this stuff at face value, and the explanation being given seemed a bit cod science or "smoke and mirrors" as someone here put it earlier, but as I said I needed a shower head anyway and figured there would be no loss in trying this one.

Getting it home and fitted, there is a definite improvement in the feel of the shower compared to our old head (though the old one was scaled up quite badly) it feels a lot more powerful, like MORE water is coming out, so intrigued by the water saving claim, earlier today I googled ecocamel to see if there were any reviews online with more details about it, and found this very thread... the "independent evidence" question gave me an idea to try a quick flow test.

Took a 14 litre tub trug and timed how long it took to fill from mains pressure cold only with old standard shower head (slightly bunged up with scale so not flowing as fast as it once did) and the new ecocamel shower head....

The results:

Old shower head: 1m15s or 11.2 l/min
EcoCamel: 1m45s or 8 l/min

so quite a big reduction, have to say I'm surprised myself at the difference, this is obviously just a back to back test for my particular shower head so yours may be less/more of a difference but I thought I'd go the whole hog and extrapolate cost savings for those of you who are metered based on the difference I have recorded

If you take a 5 minute shower every day: 5(mins)*365(days)*3.2(diff in l/min)
equals 5840 litres in a year...

google has been my friend today... :T Severn Trent (my local water provider) basically charges metered customers £2.14p per 1000 litres used (made up of £1.30 directly for water in and 84p related charge for water out)

So 5.84 thousand litres * £2.14 = £12.50

Not bad based on 5 minutes a day total use, if you've a family of 3 or 4 it would easily pay for itself in a year just on water costs, not taking into account heating costs of the hot water used.

This is all assuming you use the shower at the same tap opening as before, if you turn the taps down lower than with a standard shower head (as one poster has suggested they do) you would save even more,

hope this helps some people make a decision, having done the test, thought I'd post here to defend the product against those knocking it, whilst I obviously can't vouch for longevity or hard/soft water compatibility that some have spoken of since I only bought one 2 days ago, the water saving claims certainly seem to "hold water" (sorry )

ATB

Popkid

Doc_N

Managed to take a look at one of these at the Ideal Home Show. Made in China, as I recall, and certainly not of the quality you'd expect for the money. Extremely plasticky and cheap looking, by comparison with the 'ordinary' one I have at home.

I imagine they cost less than £1 to manufacture, so Ecocamel must be making a pretty hefty profit out of these.

Maybe they work, maybe they don't - I just wouldn't want one ruining the look of my shower room.

Andy_Hamilton

Good to see someone else producing facts for the forum not just saying "maybe they work, maybe they don't"

Rusty!

downs523 wrote: »

so, its cheaply made then, what about this mira version, this is a good make isnt it? anyone tried and tested the mira shower head yet?

I have been using a Mira Eco for a good few months now, and it's been very good indeed. Bit noisier than a 'normal' shower head, but you get used to it.

Has it saved me any money? Hard to say as I'm not on a water meter (yet) but my gas usage has dropped significantly from this time last year, however the Mira isn't the only change I have made.

MiserlyMartin

dmja wrote: »

something that is bothering me about the ecocamel aerated concept - surely adding air to hot water is going to cool it down? you will need hotter water to get the same temperature - doesnt that defeat the object of an energy saving device?

This is true. Aerating the water will make it seem colder. I know this to be the case after staying in a hotel with a fancy shower head that had a setting where it aerated the water. When I did this I had to turn the temperature up on the mixer tap.

I am sceptical about this shower heads claims although it would be great if it really does save you money.