The first review I did on Green Gear was a Delta 1.6GPM showerhead my wife and I bought at home depot. That was our first foray into the world of green products.. Since then I’ve probably reviewed more showerheads than any other product type, but each of them have been around the 1.5GPM flow rate. That is not bad. But I knew I could do better so I went looking for one with a lower flow rate and found the Bricor B100 Ultra Max .55GPM Showerhead.
This is what I consider a “premier” product review. Every post I publish with the word “bricor” gets more hits than most others. Also, there seems to be a lot of buzz around the B100 Ultra Max, but no full reviews. So, I’m hoping that I can help shed light on the quality of this low LOW flow showerhead.
I’ve reviewed a Bricor before, They are very well made showerheads that utilize a lot of different technologies to make a little water feel like a lot. The main technology used is what they call a vacuum flow, which uses air to create a vacuum in the head. This generates a greater amount of velocity, and thus force. It worked really well with 1.5GPM, so i was very anxious to see what only half a gallon per minute felt like…
You know when you’re using the B100 that you have a low flow showerhead.. I mean, how can you not? It uses 20% the water of a regular flow showerhead, and 33% the water of a 1.5GPM. So, don’t think that you’re gonna buy this thing and get an AMAZING spa like massage shower, you’re not. But what you WILL get from the B100 Ultra is a good shower, especially considering the flow rate. I give a lot of credit to Bricor here, it feels like much more than .55GPM.
The head has a rotating handle that adjusts the pressure created. With it you have the option of choosing a firm or gentle shower. It works pretty well and I use both settings each time I shower. The firm is great for getting soap out of hair, while the gentle is good for those mid-shower snoozes. You know what i’m talking about!
The green value here could almost not be higher. The amount of water you are saving here is staggering. If have a 2.5GPM and take eight minute showers you’ve just saved 15 GALLONS of water. That’s three of those big water cooler containers! That’s a serious amount of water savings… Also, You didn’t need to heat it up. So, from a “green” standpoint, the B100 ultra Max .55 is what I consider to be THE green showerhead. If your main goal in showering is saving water, this is the head for you. Basically very committed environmentalists and anyone who owns a boat or RV!
Now, lets talk about price. This showerhead was $75. That is a significant amount of money to spend on something like this. It’s high quality and bricor usually commands a high price point. But lets look at this two ways. If you already buy showerheads at this price or $75 is not a lot of money, this is going to be nothing but savings to you. If you’re like me and usually buy ones around $35, You will still see the additional $40 investment pay off in one year (assuming 8min showers and $.05 cents / cuft of water). I have no problem recommend this showerhead in either scenario.
Two important points of note. If you like warm showers and have turned down your water heater to save money you might need to turn it up for this showerhead. .55GPM is great, but it doesn’t transfer the “heat” as well since there isn’t as much water. Also, make sure you use teflon tape and a good pair of channel lock pliars and screw this thing on there snug.
So there you have it. Almost the lowest of low flow. For anyone who is looking to save a massive amount of water, I couldn’t recommend a better showerhead. (yet!)
Here is the video review
RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for (a HUGE) Variable Eco Benefit, Value / Price, and Product Design and Quality
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Question: handheld showers. I have to use fairly stick cleaning product that need direct water sprays to get off. So I always use handhold shower head. (Water-pik type things.) Could this be stuck onto something flexible and turned into a handheld?
If the hand held device you use has standard showerhead fittings, I see no reason why you couldn’t attach this. Check out Bricor’s website (and evolve i believe), I think they have less green handheld options.
where can you buy it? not finding it on Amazon…
Water and Energy Solutions, Inc. carries the full line of Bricor showerheads.
I have a teenager, you know long showers. I also want to lower my water and energy bill. My wife and I were very skeptical but I decided to try it. The idea of using 20% of the water per shower is very enticing. Not too mention using less hot water means less electricity to heat it. I am not a tree hugger but I do like saving energy and resources if it makes sense. The shower head is pricey but not too much more than a name brand 2.5 gpm shower head. The payback on this will be quick.
I find it work awesome. Rinses soap well and you don’t feel cold. We did not tell our son that it was a water saving shower head. He likes it.
If you like normal showers you will like this. If you are one of those who uses those giant elephant showers you may be disappointed.
I too am a parent of a teenager. Our sixteen year old son refuses despite our repeated reminders to take a shower shorter than twenty minutes (usually longer). I just replaced the 2.5gpm showerhead in his bathroom with the Bricor .55gpm Ultramax. It was simple to install (5 minutes) and it works great. I thought it would be spraying a mist or something but this isn’t the case at all. There is plenty of water for a shower, enough that I’m now seriously considering replacing the showerhead in the master bath with one of these. I guess I’ll have to see what my wife says about that but in the meantime we’ve agreed to one thing: our son can now take as long of a shower as he likes and we’re not going to complain at all. A twenty minute shower using four minutes worth of water is something I’m perfectly ok with.
I also replaced the 2.2gpm aerator in his sink (because he’ll just let that run too) with the Bricor .375gpm aerator. That works great too!
Brian in Oregon – although the water is running, your teenage son is not “showering” for 20 minutes a pop. Geesh.