Water is such a beautiful, life giving precious resource and a fascinating chemical enigma – definitely something to be conserved. One of the ways to save water is by using low-flow shower heads, however “Low flow shower heads are weak and frustrating. No wonder nobody wants them!” (just ask Kramer for you Seinfeld fans out there!) The Epiphany Digital Flow Optimizer caught my attention because it claims to save up to 40% of shower water. It contains motion sensors that determine whether you are directly under the flow of water or have stepped out to lather your hair or shave; it then decreases the flow while you are out. It takes only 5 minutes to install (between the shower arm and the shower head) and that’s it. You’re on your way to saving water and money. Now you can do your happy dance and sing your happy song in the shower! You may pre-order the chrome or white units for $189 or the bright nickel, brushed nickel, bronze or oil rubbed bronze units for $219 from Intelligent Green Products and it will be delivered by March 2015.
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That looks suspiciously like a webcam.
Now that’s a great idea. I live in California and while the cost of water is not a concern, water as a resource is for me. I always turn off my water while I soap up. Every time I read about a shower music system I cringed because that’s the last thing you want to do around here: give people the incentive to spend longer time in the shower.
I would prefer this as an add-on to my existing shower head. I have a wonderful rain shower head that I would like to keep. I wouldn’t mind paying $100 for one.
@ meistervu – I’m not sure how this would work with rain shower heads but it is supposed to work in general with existing shower heads. You should be able to unthread the shower head, clean off the threads and any sediment in the shower arm, re-tape the threads, connect the Epiphany, then connect your shower head to the Epiphany. If you have any doubts I would contact the manufacturer using the following website:
http://intelligentgreenproducts.com/contact/
I did a bit of research and things are a bit more complicated than that. The product website installation essentially say to replace the current shower head with theirs.
I have 2 problems with that. First, I have a really nice (also quite expensive and very well made) Grohe rain shower head. Second, the rain shower head is connected to a Grohe thermostatic mixer which is mechanical which is smart enough to maintain constant water pressure from the hot or cold side so that if say someone flush the toilet or the washer is running while you are in the shower, your shower temperature remain constant.
Even if I am fine with replacing my shower head, I am not how my Grohe mixer deal with total blockage while it’s on. l know that Grohe has a shower control that let you half the water flow, but not shut it off completely, perhaps for a reason.