Kohler Flipside Shower Head Reviiew

Also available in a handheld version.

Took my first shower with this one.  Gonna give it a couple more goes and remove the flow restrictor, before commenting.  Overall positive impression, so far, even with the flow restrictor in place.

Skip it.  More coming soon...

Welcome to the Buyer's Guide to Low Water Pressure Showerheads!

Welcome to my showerhead blog, world!

My purpose here is to share my experiences and knowledge and provide useful information to others in search of a better showerhead.  Especially those who reside in homes with low water pressure.

What I will be focusing on..

Inexpensive Showerheads - Less than 30ish bucks will be the focus, maybe an exception or two.

Showerheads that do well in Low Water Pressure Situations - My water pressure is measured  40 psi at best, and it goes down from there.  Average water pressure in the US is 50 psi.  Most towns have standardized on 60 psi as their goal for water delivery. 

Low Flow Showerheads - With an eye towards extending hot water supply, but it just so happens that this is beneficial for low water pressure situations as well.  And of course water conservation and judicious use of energy and resources is a side benefit.  Savings on energy usage (heating hot water) is icing on the cake.  But my primary concern is shower quality (comfort, rinsing, warmth, etc).

What I will not be focusing on...

Showerheads that do well in High Water Pressure Situations - If you have high water pressure, you have a much wider choice of fixtures that will do well for you.  In fact you have different showerhead characteristic requirements if focussed on maximizing comfort...ie high flow, non restricted flow showerheads.  That being said, you may wish to research Low Flow Showerheads for other reasons, thus this blog may be of interest to those with high water pressure.

High Flow Showerheads - Showerheads with flow restrictors removed.  See above.

Expensive Showerheads - Showerheads greater than $50.  Frugal and economical is the focus of this blog.

Rain Type Showerheads - Typically these are lower pressure affairs. I am looking for some force to the spray.

Multi-Function Massage Type Showerheads - Update: Added these as i found some good performers.  Really depends on the head, like with regular showerheads.

Handheld Showerheads -   Update: Added these as I found some good performers.  Really depends on the head, like with regular showerheads.

I will also cover some shower arms, water flow control devices.  I will be posting videos of spray patterns and flows of many showerheads.  Reviewing each showerhead and also comparing them to one another.   Recommendation lists will be compiled.  And a ratings form developed.  

Please note that some of the findings will be subjective and a matter of personal preference.  It's just the nature of the beast.

Hope you find this information useful in your search for a better shower experience!  Good Luck out there!

Best regards

EscapeVelocity


Addendum:

After having some experience with more than a score of showerheads, Ive decided to group the showerheads into classes that have similar mechanical spray functionality.   Each showerhead will get a write up, and then I will do a write up comparing all the showerheads within each class group to each other, with a best in class.  I will then post a comparison between the class groupings.   Finally the Top 4 or 5 ranked showerheads will compared amongst each other in it's own post.  I might have a couple of posts on products of special merit as well.  Best Buy alternatives will also be posted.


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Top Performing Shower Heads So Far...

Hansgrohe Croma E100 (and C100) 3 Jet Regular (Not the Eco-Air version)

Alsons Fluidics / Delta H2OKinetics

High Sierra 1.5 gpm Shower Head

Waterpik LAT-569 Easy Select 5 Setting Handheld

Grohe Relexa 28-342 

Kingston Brass K131A 

HighPressureShowerHeads.com Supreme

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The Whedon Saver Alsons Incredible Head Class of Showerheads Comparative Review

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Top 3

1rst Place

Rainshow'r Bernoulli = 2.5 gpm  Largest droplets amongst the group and a slighly tighter spray pattern make this the most efficient showerhead at rinsing, warmth is slightly better than the rest, as well.  Also the top performer in the group as to spray force.  The donut hole is less pronounced for shorter people.  Slight edge in build qualty and aesthetics goes to the Bernoulli Rainshow'r as well.  Made in USA.  By far, the most expensive of the group.

2nd Place

Alsons Incredible Head Europa  = 2.5 gpm Second place in the group, owing to it's flow control valve, which allows dialing back the flow for shaving or lathering to reduce water usage, without cutting the flow completely off, which helps maintain some warmth and comfort.  The 3rd Place Whedon Deluxe Showersaver has slightly better spray force and rinsing ability, but the spray characteristics of these 2 are similar, with pronounced donut hole.  Delta is now branding these.  Originally made in USA now made in China.  The Peerless knockoff has reduced build quality with a rubber flow control valve....so stay away from that one.  

3rd Place  

Whedon Deluxe ShowerSaver DS1C & DS2C 2.5 gpm = Nearly as good of force as the Bernoulli.  The wider spray pattern and more pronounced donut hole made this one less effective at rinsing.  Warmth was OK, spray force was slightly better than the 2nd place finisher, and slightly less than the 1rst place finisher.  Most Whedon showerheads used to be made in USA, now many are made in China and/or Assembled in USA.   

Others

Alsons Incredible Head 2.5 gpm = This showerhead had a really fine mist type spray, amongst a category of showerheads that are known for that attribute.  Very gentle fine mist sprinkle, with no pronounced donut hole.  Very even distribution of droplets.  I found the spray particularly soothing and thought it worth praising on the blog.  However the rinsing ability suffers greatly making this a less practical utilitarian showerhead.  Warmth suffers as well.  The trickle valve is tightly machined and works great.  Made in USA.  Delta now brands these and they are made in China.

Whedon Ultra Saver 1.9 gpm =  This one has a flow regulator which maintains 1.9 gpm at a range of pressures.  Less forceful spray that the Top 3.  Pronounced donut hole.  Slightly less warm.    This one fell to the bottom.  It does rinse better than the one just above.  Not recommended.

Conclusion

I must admit, the gadgeteer in me has a fondness for these tiny all brass construction low frills showerheads.

In the final analysis, none of these made the list of the creme de la creme of showerheads for low water pressure.  The Rainshow'r Bernoulli is quite livable and kind of stylish in a modern kind of way.   Ultimately the most interesting showerhead in this group is the Alsons Incredible Head Europa, which can be useful where you are trying to limit water (hot water) usage, but still trying to maintain some comfort...avoiding a trickle valve near full shutdown of the flow and instead just dialing it back a bit.  However you can buy stand alone flow valves that sit between a showerhead and the arm for this purpose and use other better spray showerheads.

Note

The High Sierra 1.5 gpm showerhead would upon a quick glance belong to this group of showerheads, however it does not share the same basic mechanical design.   It's design is unique and frankly it blows all of these away in spray force and rinsing ability and warmth, at low pressure at least, whilst using less water to boot.