What to look for in a shower head for low water pressure. How to pick the best shower head.

There are shower heads of all shapes and sizes available online so I made some initial assumptions to help narrow down the field. I didn’t want to pick a winner that required a professional plumber for installation since that would add additional and unknown costs. I put no restrictions on output or water conservation other than the government regulated 2.5gpm. I ruled out the cheap, generic cone head option and set the top of the budget at $250. After that it became hard to tell if you were paying for quality, or for some gimmick like LEDs.

It didn’t seem beneficial to make any more restrictions since there are so many variables that play into the success of a shower head in any given shower. But there were two categories of shower heads that didn’t seem worth exploring: rain can models and single-setting heads.

Rain can models, the large-faced, 100+ jet heads can trick people into thinking more jets are better. In fact, more jets, and a bigger face require more water, and more pressure in order to have a satisfying shower. In most reviewer comments I read people recommended removing parts—flow restrictors—from head in order to increase the water flow but this undermines the 2.5gpm restriction. And a majority of these heads are designed to work angled directly downward so your experience is limited. You can’t easily shower without getting your hair wet, for example. These may work well in a hotel where you stay for a few days, but they are not as practical for everyday use. Plus, you can always get an extension arm adapter for a standard showerhead if you want a downward flow from a regular shower head.

Choosing the best shower head isn’t as simple as looking for the newest, or most eco-friendly models.

The same goes for single-setting heads without detachable wands. Side-by-side comparisons from the New York Times and Real Simple have mostly multi-function heads and the top sellers from online retailers focus on the same. Maybe it’s that single setting heads aren’t popular, or maybe it’s that companies are spending their money on higher end models. But regardless the closest I came to finding a good single setting head was a two-setting head that just had two really similar settings. Plus single-setting heads don’t allow you to adjust for pressure, and don’t help conserve water, so I didn’t bend over backward trying to find a decent one.

Choosing the best shower head isn’t as simple as looking for the newest, or most eco-friendly models. Because of this the market is flooded with knock-offs and that sort of thins out the user review consensus to be almost useless. Reading these comments does, however, reveal that describing what makes a shower head good or bad isn’t a simple thing to communicate. The names of the components are not widely known and standardized measurements are limited to gallons per minute (gpm). In the world of gadgets size, speed, and resolution are measured in consistent ways making them easier to compare. Even if you can perfectly describe the ideal shower, there’s still a lot of subjectivity to get around. The best shower depends on water pressure, the size and plumbing configuration of your shower, and your personal particularities. So with all of that in mind, if you are happy with your current shower head, you probably shouldn’t change it. But if you have that ubiquitous cone shaped fixed head or anything similar—or if just don’t love your shower—it might be time to upgrade.

Water conservation is also kind of something to avoid worrying about when looking for a shower head—not because saving water is bad but because all legal shower heads do it anyhow.

The only surefire way to conserve water is to spend less time in the shower, and turn down the water when you’re sudsing up.

Many shower heads are advertised as “low-flow,” boasting savings on water bills and reduction in consumption. But the Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires that all shower heads sold in the U.S. maintain a flow of 2.5 gpm or less. So really every shower head is low-flow. The question is, how low should you go? If you are exceptionally concerned with saving water and money or if you are installing a head on a boat or R.V. then you can go as low as 1.5gpm. Any lower and the diameter of head has to be so small that the shower stream will feel like a needle. Any bigger and you’re essentially standing under a garden hose. If you go less than 1.5 gpm you’re going to have to spend so much time in the shower rinsing off that you will waste more water than if you didn’t. The only surefire way to conserve water is to spend less time in the shower, and turn down the water when you’re sudsing up. So we set out to find a shower head that promotes these behaviors.

Editorial side-by-side comparisons pointed me towards a few noteworthy brands. The Real Simple review lead me to the Hansgrohe Clubmaster, the head with the most unique self cleaning mechanism. But I was hesitant to take other advice from this review because it wasn’t clear if they actually tested the heads or not. The New York Times comparison, on the other hand, was written in first person and seemed more reliable. They tested a nondescript four jet Delta head which is what lead me to include Delta on the list of contenders. Esquire composed a list of Best Shower Heads for Men categorized by the type of shower you’re looking for. This list includes the Take A Shower series of Fire Hydrant Spa Series which I ended up testing twice and the Speakman Anystream, which also appeared in Real Simple. Esquire tested a Delta head and liked it, so it became clear we had to get Delta into the semi finalist list.

I also browsed through Amazon, Home Depot, Overstock, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and a few other online retailers looking for popular brands and found that Delta, Kohler and Moen are the most reviewed. I looked for the models from those companies with the best user reviews and combined them with others I had come across that had a unique concept or technology claim and also threw in the head I had been using in my own shower for about 8 months, the Moen Nature Three Function which I bought without doing extensive or conclusive research as a personal purchase, as a baseline.

Then I took my top ten heads and I got to testing.

I was already someone who showered often and at length so over the course of the last few months I put in close to 50 hours of testing. I first tried each head without actually showering with it and took down some basic notes on ease of install, the range of settings and if there were any glaring issues like leaks. I turned the water on full blast to both extreme hot and cold. (None of the heads popped off with a deluge of water like so many cartoons would have you believe. Don’t trust cartoons!) Then I retested and retested and retested.

Going a full day between showers made it hard to recall specific details so I began changing heads mid-shower. Heads were easier to compare when used back-to-back and that helped eliminate questions lingering about the consistency of the water temperature and pressure in my apartment. So for the next few months my bathroom floor remained covered in shower heads and I switched them in and out regularly depending on what kind of shower I wanted, and what details I was looking to scrutinize at the time.

It’s worth noting that unlike many other of our product categories, it was hard to come up with a scientific protocol for testing. With actual flow not being a part of the equation, it came down to feel. And to take those subjective personal impressions from anecdotal to something resembling actual data, I had three other editors test some finalist showerheads.

The www.highpressureshowers.com from Take A Shower LLC was a standout pick for all of us. The Fire Hydrant Series of Shower Heads and Handhelds are the best, most powerful products that you can find anywhere. They have the Fire Hydrant Spa Economy Shower Head which is $20.50, Fire Hydrant Spa Massager $20.50  and their high end Fire Hydrant Spa Ultimate 8 Jet at $260. Who else but Take A Shower can sell a cheap to high end shower head that actually solves your low water pressure.

Submitted on 11/1/2014 By Matty Delulica Seattle, WA email webmaster for contact information of me to further discuss.