Showering for one second uses as much energy as charging your mobile phone. So, if you’re looking for ways to reduce energy consumption at home, the bathroom is the obvious place to start. To help you, Swiss-based company, Amphiro, has designed an energy-saving smart showerhead. And this digital hand shower is now available in the UK.
But do you really need to spend money on a smart shower system? “If you already take short, cold showers in the dark, then you might not need it,” says Noemie Dousse, Amphiro’s marketing manager. Assuming you’re not a cave-dwelling, cold-water lover then, Amphiro’s smart showerhead could be for you.
The problem, says Dousse, is that people don’t know how much time they spend in the shower. The Amphiro digital hand shower helps combat that by giving you real-time feedback. View your water temperature and consumption as you bathe. Then check your total energy consumption at the end.
The monitor also shows five polar bears which disappear one by one as you use more energy. This motivates kids and adults alike to save more energy. The smart showerhead lets you set your own water-saving goals and connect your shower to an app. That’s because seeing data about your behaviours helps you make informed decisions.
When the light turns from green to red you know you’ve missed your goal. But don’t worry. The shower won’t stop running. You simply know you’ll have to do better next time. Is it worth it? “The joy you get when you’ve done something good is like a pat on the back,” says Dousse.
For little more than £100, Amphiro says, this smart showerhead will pay for itself in under a year. But if you don’t want to spend that much, opt for the company’s retrofit B1 model. It provides a cheaper way of measuring your water usage and connects to most showers.
If you’re looking for cost-effective ways to save energy at home, the Amphiro smart showerhead is a great place to start. After all, says, Dousse, “it’s not about being perfect. It’s just about trying”.