EcoRenovate » energy savings kit http://www.ecorenovate.ca Average Ontario Homeowners Saving the Planet While Saving Money Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:14:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How to Install a Low-Flow Showerhead http://www.ecorenovate.ca/2010/02/20/how-to-install-a-low-flow-showerhead/ http://www.ecorenovate.ca/2010/02/20/how-to-install-a-low-flow-showerhead/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:40:06 +0000 Heather http://www.ecorenovate.ca/?p=830 By Doug

Making our home eco-responsible involves more than just maximizing our government rebates.  We are also making some upgrades that we won’t get any money back for.

Our natural gas company, Union Gas, had a display at one of our local malls recently where they demonstrated some tips for making your home more eco efficient. They gave out free “Energy Savings Kits” – which included a low-flow showerhead.

We decided to replace our old worn out and barely functioning shower head in ourtools_showerhead main floor bathroom. We had given up having showers upstairs, so hopefully the new shower head will make this bathroom more useable and save some water, too.

Installing a low flow shower head is easy.  All you need is:
  • The showerhead
  • A pair of vice grips
  • Some pipe tape (which came with the free Energy Savings Kit from Union Gas)
  • A kitchen towel

Step 1: Make sure the water is turned off and use the vice grips to unscrew the old shower head from the neck.

Step 1

Step 1

Step 2: There will likely be some old pipe tape in the threads.  Remove this old tape. You might need a sharp edge or an old tooth brush to get the tape out of the threads.
Step 2

Step 2

Then apply new pipe tape.  Wind the tape in a clockwise direction with a little bit of tension on the tape.
You will later be screwing the shower head on clockwise to winding the tape in the same direction prevents the edge of the tape from curling back and making a bad seal.
Step 3

Step 3

Step 3: Now screw on the shower head over the pipe tape.  You can start this by hand until snug.

Step 4: Once the head is snug you will need to tighten it with the vice grips.  Use the kitchen towel over the showerhead to prevent scratching the surface.
Step 4

Step 4

Step 5: Turn on the water to make sure that you have a good seal.  If water comes out from around the screws, turn off the water and tighten it a little more using the kitchen towel to again so you don’t scratch the fixtures.  Once you have a good seal you are done.

Step 5

Step 5

Have a nice hot shower!
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