There are two types of showers. There's the cleansing shower - the one needed to maintain personal hygiene. Then there's the spa shower.Each shower has a different purpose.
The cleansing shower is brief yet thorough. You rinse yourself, stop the flow, lather the shampoo, rinse, stop the flow to condition and soap, and then rinse again. It can be done in around three minutes of flowing water. It's purpose is to clean you and nothing else.
The spa shower takes around 15 minutes or until hot water stops flowing from the taps. You stand under the shower head for a few minutes, warming up and relaxing, shampoo, condition, and soap when you feel ready, and then enter a trance of steamy bliss until the sudden rush of cold water wakes you. The purpose of the spa shower is therapeutic.
In Ontario, taking a spa shower every day will cost you around $250 / year if you're using an electric water heater and $175 / year if you're using a gas water heater (all figures include all actual costs - KWh charges, delivery, water fees, sewer fees, etc). A cleansing shower will cost you 1/5 that.
Think of it this way: it costs 50¢ per spa shower and 10¢ per cleansing shower. I wouldn't advocate abandoning the spa shower. Some people need this to wake up in the morning or to relax after a long day of work. We should be aware, however, of how much we're paying for either.
There are some ways we can get the spa shower experience while paying less:
- If you have a gym membership - shower at the gym (it can pay for half the membership)
- Switch to low flow shower heads (pre-1992 shower heads use double the water)
- Reduce the flow rate when soaping/shampooing/conditioning
