Dear Umbra,
The biggest waster of energy in our house right now is our 15-year-old daughter, whose never-ending daily showers must surely be responsible for warming the planet another half-degree. No matter how loudly we bang on the bathroom door and scream for her to stop, she showers on -- 20, 30 minutes at a time. And yes, we have a low-flow showerhead and our water heater is set to 120 degrees. Is there any kind of device -- one that isn't too dear and doesn't require a plumber -- that can curb the wasteful shower habits of a teenage girl? I'm partial to the pay showers you use at the state parks, the type that shuts off after 3 minutes, but that looks expensive and would probably require a plumber. A decent waterproof timer, even, would be useful for everyone in the household to remind them to keep it short.
Katherine Z.
Seattle, Wash.
Dearest Katherine,
Your first million awaits you. There is a crying need for a home shower auto-shutoff valve that even the plumbing novice can install. Design this device and parents of teens around the showering nations will deluge you with cash and praise. I can't find one. The closest I can come are devices that annoy the showerer into stopping. Most of my usual half-baked Umbra-O-Matic ideas are also annoyance-based, though we will address reason and logic at the end.
"Mooooom, I'm in the shower!"
Photo: iStockphoto
Before engaging the Umbra-O-Matic, let us reflect on the urgency of the issue. The Department of Energy estimates that heating water accounts for 14 to 25 percent of household energy consumption. Although water use is a concern, it is this energy consumption that we wish to reduce. Exactly how much energy goes toward heating water in your own household depends on the efficiency of the heater, as well as how much it is used (long showers included), the temperature setting on the heater, whether hot water pipes and heater are insulated, and other factors. Given the amount of household energy in play, shower length is certainly something we should evaluate and curtail in our homes.
I did find one timer that stops the shower after a certain time and energy use has passed, but I believe it may only work with on-demand hot water systems. I found another that runs for a period of water flow and then emits an annoying noise until the shower is turned off -- maybe your best bet, timer-wise. There are also various waterproof shower timers on the market, just regular timers with a waterproof cover, which you will find on the internet under "waterproof timer." Please shop carefully and try to avoid vinyl.
With a little extra effort on your part, you can personally be more annoying than any buzzer. Trouble is, the showers just may continue to annoy you as well as your daughter. My most drastic ideas involve ending the shower yourself. Have you tried marching into the bathroom and turning the shower off for her? I understand the bathroom door might have a lock, but it can be removed without hiring a plumber. In order for this tactic to be remotely fair, you would need to have a clock in the shower, so that she can pace herself through the allotted showering time before you summarily shut off the faucet. Or, if you don't want to invade the bathroom, set a time limit on her showers, let her know what it is, and get a kitchen timer to carry in your pocket. When she starts the shower, start the timer. When the timer goes off, turn off the hot water pipe at the water heater. Voila, her water will be cold only, shower will end.
I have another drastic idea, but it does involve plumbing: get rid of your current showerhead. Attach a hand-held shower nozzle instead, but no mount for the nozzle. Everyone will have to hold the nozzle with one hand while they desperately try to suds themselves with the other. No one's shower will last long and houseguests will be baffled.
Since none of these techniques is ideal, I wonder if you might back up a step to the negotiation phase. I understand that these long showers are annoying and persistent and do use quite a bit of hot water. Without fair negotiation, though, I'm not sure you will effect any lasting change (lasting here meaning two weeks or longer).
Did you already try to calmly sit down with your daughter at a non-shower time, and go over why shorter showers are important to you? In this conversation, did you lay out the consequences of longer showers on your household budget and her future planet? You also might try to challenge her to find a larger waste of energy in the household. If she can, then you need to reduce that energy consumption in fairness to her shower efforts. If her showers are truly the largest waste, lay out a series of consequences for her related to the environmental consequences: docking her allowance based on her share of the water heating bill, for example.
Finally, although I know this will not make me sound properly environmental: you only have a few more years with her in the house. These years are either precious or already full of conflict or both. My final solution: Try to limit her hot-water use, and then (is she reading this?) give up. She may eventually grow out of the endless shower.
Hopefully,
Umbra
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Comments
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demolitionwoman Posted 4:03 am
02 Apr 2008
Also, what about a compromise? For example: she can take her long hot showers on weekends, but during the week, she should keep it to 10 minutes or less.
You could also start charging her $5 for every minute over 10 minutes or something like that - especially if you want to drive home the economics of hot water heating.
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gregoryheller Posted 4:06 am
02 Apr 2008
The Market Based Solution: Time your daughters showers and charge her $1 for every minute past 5 that the shower is running, $2 for every minute after 10, $3 for every minute after 20. A 10 minute shower would cost $5, 20 minutes would cost $25, 30 minute shower would cost her $55.
Rationing: Turn off the water valve for water flowing out of the hot water heater. Do this after her 5 minutes is up. I would suspect that if her hot shower turns cold without warning a few times she may get the picture. It may work best to not do it every time, but rather be erratic and unpredictable.
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learsfool Posted 4:13 am
02 Apr 2008
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gstratelak Posted 4:13 am
02 Apr 2008
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Colin Wright Posted 4:19 am
02 Apr 2008
So I can shower as long as I want, knowing that I'm not wasting energy -- the heat from the hot water will warm up the bathroom the rest of the day (not noticeably, but that's what physics tells us).
Of course, this method won't work for summer.
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raphsperry Posted 4:19 am
02 Apr 2008
Honestly, these are more common in new construction or major renovation projects, since the installation is a drag. I'd also recommend getting a thermostatic shower valve with one of these so you don't have to adjust the mix as the incoming cold line warms up. But it's worth checking out for you energy-savers out there:
http://gfxtechnology.com
And even Bob Vila recommends it:
http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Drainwater_Heat_Reco ...
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atlasgrrl Posted 5:03 am
02 Apr 2008
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demolitionwoman Posted 5:32 am
02 Apr 2008
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Daria Posted 5:44 am
02 Apr 2008
But if you're worried about wasted water in addition to energy, which, depending on your state, may be a big issue, you should also take your daughter to Good Vibes--or maybe just tell her about it... :)
Comprimises and good, direct, honest, two-way conversations with her are highly recommended, as are giving her choices. You don't want to be too heavy-handed on these issues I think (I was a teenage girl not too long ago), but rather encourage her to think about her choices and even possible mitigation strategies.
But you should definately investigate solar thermal water heating. Everyone who owns their house or plans on staying a few years should.
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olmon Posted 6:18 am
02 Apr 2008
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sarahbei Posted 6:52 am
02 Apr 2008
I have a low-flow NAVY showerhead, which has a button on it that you can use to reduce or stop the flow. I use it to reduce flow to keep some steam going while I lather/shampoo/shave (which actually makes it EASIER, since water isn't washing away your lather or shaving cream or whatnot). It's a lot easier than trying to avoid the flow/splash, and you don't need the water on full blast to keep yourself warm. It's really convenient to be able to control the flow without inadvertently changing temp, which most showers make it hard to do!
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swan Posted 8:31 am
02 Apr 2008
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bhurley Posted 11:17 pm
02 Apr 2008
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johnrplatt Posted 1:24 am
03 Apr 2008
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tui3 Posted 8:40 am
03 Apr 2008
I worked for a while in a nursing home once, showering elderly people among other things, and quickly found that different staff members had different ideas about what should be done. This greatly affected how long the showers took!
Perhaps you could talk about this with your daughter. If she feels hurried out of the shower in a way that leaves her feeling unclean for the rest of the day, that might not be the best solution. Relaxing her high standard of cleanliness (if this is the case) might be helpful.
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PolluteLessDotCom Posted 5:08 am
04 Apr 2008
I ordered 5 minute sand timers. Some you can buy that stick to a shower wall. That MIGHT encourage my kids to keep it under 5 minutes. I believe they usually just forget and loose track of time.
Please do not limit your kids to less than what you allow for yourself. You will have to be the one who does it the "greenest" way. It is hard enough for the kids to experience that other families are living much larger.
This occasionally (or better: more often) saying "Enough!" business is really important, I believe. This applies to much more than just taking a shower. There are limits to comfort, convenience, money, and resources for 6.5 billion people on Earth. What was acceptable just a few years ago is not any longer and it is getting worse. If you do not raise your children that way they will not see it later as adults. It has to do with learning now what is acceptable before they are forced by the circumstances to do it. And those radically more limited times may not be that far away. 10, 20 years maybe.
Adolescents are self-centered by nature. Nevertheless, raising more hedonists is not what the world needs. Start early and live by good example in the areas where is matters.
Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice To Pollute Less
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themrfreeze Posted 6:03 am
04 Apr 2008
Before he starts, I fill a 48 oz. plastic cup with cold water, and set it on the sink. I tell him he has x minutes to take his shower,then I'm coming in and pouring the water on his head (no door lock to worry about). Guess what? It works.
You could also do what my brother and I did when we were younger and wanted the other out of the shower...just go flush a toilet in the house. That gets 'em out of the shower pretty quick.
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KZ Posted 8:18 am
04 Apr 2008
We live in Seattle and - of course! -- keep the house temp dialed down low, so who wouldn't want to linger in a warm shower - it's the warmest place in the house. Also, we unfortunately inherited a monster-size hot water heater installed by the previous owners; one of these days that's gonna have to go, but in the meantime, the hot water never, ever runs out.
Anyway, I've already talked it over with my daughter, who's a good kid and completely on-board with environmental concerns (already takes the bus everywhere, for example - just hates being cold). And we all like the lowest-tech timer out there - the five-minute egg timer that attaches to the bathroom tiles with a suction cup looks like a winner to me...it might not bring her to a total stop, but it's simple and easy and a good reminder to everyone else in the family, too.
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prashnaidu Posted 5:59 am
06 Apr 2008
Check this one out. A shower monitor, a little pricey though.
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selftitled10 Posted 1:09 am
08 Apr 2008
What I do is I close the drain of my bathtub while I shower (If you have only a shower I remember when I was little we had this rubbery circle that we placed over the drain and it stopped the drain). Once I'm done soaping, shampooing, and conditioning I turn off the shower and use the water that collected to shave. I also soap up while I let my conditioner soak in a bit. I don't know how much time my shower takes but it is sure less than 10 minutes... probably about 5.
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emoninjadragon Posted 8:09 am
22 Apr 2008
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