The best shower upgrades

What we judged these on, in order

The shower is used every day, and the EPA puts a number on how much water it takes: “Showering is one of the leading ways we use water in the home, accounting for nearly 17 percent of residential indoor water use—for the average family, that adds up to nearly 40 gallons per day.” So an upgrade here should change that daily shower, not the look of the room. Every pick was judged against five questions, in this order:

1. Does it change the shower you take every day? Spray, water, storage or footing. Decorative swaps that leave the shower itself the same are not on this list.
2. Does it publish its flow rate, and where does that sit? Anything that water runs through is placed against the 2.5 GPM standard and the 2.0 GPM WaterSense limit.
3. Does it fit the shower you already have? One threaded joint on the shower arm, spring tension, suction or grip. Nothing here needs a drill, and each pick carries our install rating.
4. Can you check what it claims? A WaterSense label, an NSF/ANSI 177 test, a stated warranty, a published surface limit. Where a maker is silent, the pick says so.
5. What does it cost to keep? Only the filter has a running cost, in cartridges. Everything else is bought once.

Start with the head

A shower head connects to the arm on a standard thread. High Sierra’s head, for example, “Connects to shower arms, extensions, filters, etc with universal 1/2″ - 14 NPS or NPT male threads size”. That is why a head swap is the most useful shower upgrade there is: one joint, one wrench, and the old head goes in a drawer. How to replace a shower head is covered here.

If your complaint is weak pressure, work through the free fixes before you buy anything — descaling the head and checking that the shut-off valve is fully open come first, and no head contains a pump. The pressure fixes are here, and why removing the flow restrictor is the wrong fix is here.

Flow rate, in plain numbers

The EPA sets out the two figures that matter: “Did you know that standard showerheads use 2.5 gallons of water per minute (gpm)?” and “Water-saving showerheads that earn the WaterSense label must demonstrate that they use no more than 2.0 gpm.” By its estimate, “The average family could save 2,700 gallons per year by installing WaterSense labeled showerheads.”

A lower number is not a promise of a weak shower. WaterSense testing includes spray force, which the EPA says “Ensures showerhead spray force (or ‘pressure’) is sufficient to provide user satisfaction”, and spray coverage, so the stream is not too narrow or too wide. Placed on that scale, the picks here run:

• Delta In2ition: 1.75 GPM, WaterSense labeled.
• High Sierra Classic: your choice of 1.25 to 2.5 GPM; the 1.25, 1.5 and 1.8 are WaterSense.
• Moen Engage 26100: 2.5 GPM maximum, the standard figure.
• Aquasana AQ-4100: 2.5 GPM, which Aquasana publishes as the filter’s flow rate.

What GPM means on a shower head is explained here.

Filters: what the certification covers

NSF/ANSI 177 is the standard written for shower filters, and it tests one thing: how much free chlorine a filter removes, held across the capacity the maker claims. Aquasana’s over 90% for 10,000 gallons is that kind of claim, and it is why the AQ-4100 is here and filters with no certification are not. NSF/ANSI 177 is explained here.

Two things it is not. It is not a test for chloramine, which some cities use instead of chlorine — whether shower filters help with chloramine is answered here. And it is not softening: no shower filter does what a water softener does, as the shower water softener question explains.

What we left out, and why

New valves and trim, including thermostatic valves, sit behind the wall and are a plumber’s job. They are worth knowing about — what a thermostatic valve does is here — but they are not an upgrade you fit on a Saturday.

Glass shower doors hang on jambs fixed to the shower walls, which makes them owner’s work. The sliding doors are ranked here.

Shower panel systems get their own verdict: are shower panels worth it.

Vitamin C shower filters are left out because none we found publishes a certification like the Aquasana’s. The vitamin C question is answered here.

A heated shower floor is the skip above, for the reason given there: it goes in under new tile.

The order to do them in

1. The head. The two-in-one if you want both a fixed head and a handheld; the High Sierra if you want to cut water use; the Moen if a handheld alone will do.
2. A filter, if your water is chlorinated and it bothers you. Choose it at the same time as the head, because the Aquasana comes with its own wand.
3. A tub mat, for a tub with a smooth floor.
4. Storage, once the tub edge fills with bottles.
5. A shower mirror, if you shave.

Prices, roughly

The shower mirror and the tub mat are the least expensive picks here. The Moen handheld and the High Sierra head sit in the next bracket, the Aquasana filter above them, and the Delta two-in-one and the simplehuman caddy are the larger purchases. The filter is the only one that keeps costing, with a new cartridge every 10,000 gallons or six months. Current prices appear beside each pick, pulled live from Amazon rather than typed in by us.

If you rent

All seven picks rate Safe on our install rating. The heads and the filter thread onto the existing arm, so keep the old head and screw it back on the day you move. The caddy stands on spring tension, the mat is suction, and the mirror grips and peels off. Nothing is fixed to the building. Shower heads for apartments and rentals are ranked here.