ShowerStart Technology
ShowerStart Technology. Manufactured by Evolve.
Like many, I have a habit of turning on the shower in the morning and letting it run until it’s hot. While brushing my teeth, using the toilet, etc. the water often warms up before I’m ready to hop in. Meanwhile, a couple of gallons of hot water have gone down the drain. Sound familiar?
A company called Evolve has a (technological) solution to this habit: its ShowerStart technology has a sensor that actually turns the shower stream to a trickle once it has warmed up to 95 degrees, thus conserving the normally wasted water and gas/electricity used to heat it. When you are ready to hop in, a simple flick of the switch resumes the full flow water. It’s that simple.
Evolve’s showerheads range from standard models to rainwater systems. It you’re comparing to Kohler, there isn’t really a premium. For renovations or retrofits, they also make a product called the Ladybug. It attaches to an existing showerhead to give the same water and energy saving feature.
Only one of their current products features “low-flow” technology in addition to the SmartStart. The RoadRunner has a flow rate of 1.59 gpm, which is below the LEED standards for “ultra low flow fixtures.” The rest are typical 2.5 gpm. Promotional information on the company’s website states that their regular-flow products will save $75 and 2,700 gallons of water per year, while the RoadRunner with save $230 and 7665 gallons. Some quick math tells me that 2,700 gallons averages out to 3 minutes of conserved water flow per day, which sounds pretty reasonable. I’m still looking forward to more of their low-flow products in the future.
