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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Low Flow Showerhead

This project was so easy that even I was able to do it.  Really ---  with no technical or vocational skills whatsoever --- it was that easy.  
The only tool you really need is an adjustable wrench (that's the one with the twirly thing in the middle that makes the opening of the wrench get bigger or smaller depending on which way you spin the twirly thing -- see I told you.  No skills whatsoever). 
So, first you just unscrew the old shower head. 


That leaves a really ugly pipe sticking out of the wall.  
Take a bar of soap and rub it on the pipe in the wall -- sort of like when you rub a bar of soap on a stuck zipper -- it lubricates it (don't let that technical talk scare you -- I still know NOTHING)
On the package of the new low-flow showerhead there should be a diagram of all of the parts (there's only a few, don't panic) Stack everything up in the order shown on the diagram -- 
Then just screw the new shower head onto the really ugly pipe jutting out of the wall.
Ta da!!  That's all there was to it --- done.  
Seriously --- the benefits to this little home improvement project are several fold: 
1.  You get a new showerhead -- spring for a semi-fancy one -- We are riding on the coattails of luxury after all -- I went for one with the "rain" setting -- it doesn't feel like rain to me at all, but its a lovely relaxing shower.
2.  You do something really, really good for the earth.  As Americans, we use far more than our share of the earth's water -- this cuts that down a little bit without impacting your lifestyle, sense of hygiene etc.
3.  You save money, honey.  Nearly a quarter of the water that you use in your home is in the shower -- if you save that water --- voila, your water bill goes down. If you're like me, you like your shower hot rather than cold.  That means you're heating that water and paying for the gas or electricity to heat it.  If you heat less of it --- voila -- your energy bill goes down too.  



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