Our lab tests include measuring water flow rate and energy efficiency, so we can tell you the price differences between the type of shower you choose and how the wattage will affect your bills, plus whether it's worth investing in a shower with eco settings or an eco shower head to help you use less water.
Find out what we recommend and the simple steps you can take to help you save some extra cash when showering.
The cost of electric showers vs power and mixer showers
When buying a new shower, your options are limited to electric, mixer and power. The type you choose could save you a considerable amount.
Electric showers
Mixer showers
You'll need access to a hot and cold water supply, which isn’t always practical for some. A mixer can use anywhere between five litres a minute to an astonishing 30 litres a minute. And even though Anglian water's usage calculator doesn't account for mixers, it does show that running it on the lower end every day for the entire year can cost around £289. And considering a mixer can use around double the amount of water a power shower uses, you could be spending more than £660 for showering every day of the year.
Power showers
Similar to mixer showers, they combine water from the hot and cold water supply to reach your desired temperature. As the name suggests, power showers produce a far stronger flow than an electric unit, around 14 litres a minute. That’s a lot of water. In fact, if you used a power shower every day for the entire year, your water bill would be around £336.
Find out more the different types and the best from our tests in our guide to theHow your shower’s kWh affects cost
In addition to the type of shower, the power output is important to consider.
If you have a 10-minute shower every day for the entire year this is roughly what you'll be spending:
It's not simply a case of opting for a shower with a lower wattage to save money.
Higher-powered showers are more expensive as they use more water, but they also offer a more robust water flow and with more substantial pressure you may not need to be in the shower for as long washing off soap.
So depending on your shower habits, you may use less water and energy by having a more powerful shower and reducing your showering time.
Does eco mode make a difference?
Using your shower's eco mode could cut costs by nearly half. In our tests, the 9kW showers dropped to around £84 for a 10-minute daily shower each year.
However, our testing also revealed that some electric showers can go rogue, with one in particular having an eco mode that costs around £50 more than similarly powered showers using the same setting.
And if your shower doesn't have an eco mode, you might be tempted to look into adding an eco shower head.
These can be a great addition to a mixer or a power shower, because they give the feeling of higher pressure without actually using more water, so you can turn the dial down and save water.
Inspiring tips for improving your living space.Four shower tips to help you save money
Reduce shower time to five minutesFix water leaksClean the shower headSwitch to eco or low modeWant to know more about our tests? Take a look at undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/simple-tips-to-help-you-reduce-your-shower-costs-aAbI58R5nrDU