Low flow shower heads????

Question

I am planning on changing out shower heads in all my rental units where I pay water.  Just wondering if anyone has used or can recommend any low flow shower heads and if you could see a difference in the water bill.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Average for a 900sq.ft. apartment in Pasadena is $102.60 and that includes water, electric, sewer, trash. I don't see how you could be paying $200 per unit per month unless you have running toilets or someone wasting some serious water. I'm not trying to start a fight or call you a liar; I'm just trying to understand why you are paying so much and how a low-flow shower head will fix that.

The average person uses 100 gallons of water per day. About 20 of that comes from showering. If you cut your shower use by 50% you would still be using 90 gallons a day. Again, we're talking a few dollars in savings a month unless your tenants are taking showers 5x longer than normal.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

In my area, water is $2.60 for every 1,000 gallons. A low-flow shower head will allegedly cut water use in half...but only for the shower. It still doesn't save you in the toilet, sinks, laundry, etc. Best case scenario, you're going to save around $20 a year. Is it really worth it?

Seth Borman · Answer

It's about the system that you build. If your system is to install low flow shower heads in every unit you aren't going to save a lot of money towards cash flow, but you are going to increase the value of the portfolio. If you have a tech going to every unit when you buy it the marginal cost of changing the showerhead is minimal.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Thanks for that explanation. It sounds like your likely culprit is either a toilet that constantly flushes/runs. I would focus on replacing the guts of every toilet, inspecting for leaks, and talking to my tenants to see if they can help determine why the use is so high. A single toilet running constantly can eat up thousands and thousands of gallons of water.

Seth Borman · Answer

I don't have the data on how much tenants use and for what. I know the averages across the portfolio. $208 was the high and usually meant there were huge problems such as bath tubs running 24/7/365.The average at acquisition was about $60. This being LA you often have a lot of people in the unit. A studio might have 5-7 people living there. That doesn't include the savings from buildings that use a common water heater, which is very common in 5+ unit buildings.

Colleen F. · Answer

Highest water use is  the toilet , washing machines, and then showers in that order. It can't hurt to change them out if you have high flow older units. You will get more value out of losing the high flow toilets though.

Seth Borman · Answer

In my area water bills run as high as $208/unit/month. Stabilized properties average $25/unit/month. What makes the difference? Fixing leaks, changing showerheads, and changing toilets.Also, that $20 is a $400 improvement at a 5% cap, so there is that.

Low flow shower heads????

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