Enter your shower duration, flow rate, water heater type, and local utility rates to find out exactly what each shower costs. You'll get a breakdown of water cost, energy cost, and totals for daily, monthly, and yearly spending across your household. Also try the Toilet Paper Calculator.
Cost Per Shower
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Water Cost Per Shower
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Energy Cost Per Shower
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Water Used Per Shower
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Daily Household Cost
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Monthly Household Cost
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Yearly Household Cost
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The average 8-minute shower costs roughly $0.25–$0.65 depending on your local water rates, energy prices, showerhead flow rate, and water heater type. Households with multiple people can spend $30–$80 or more per month on showers alone. See also our calculate Hair Growth.
A typical 10-minute shower using a standard 2.1 gal/min showerhead uses about 21 gallons of water. With average US utility rates (~$0.13/kWh electricity, $5/1,000 gal water), a 10-minute shower in an electric tank heater household costs roughly $0.30–$0.70 total.
Water use depends on your showerhead flow rate and shower duration. A standard showerhead flows at about 2.1 gallons per minute, so a 10-minute shower uses roughly 21 gallons. Low-flow showerheads (1.5 gal/min) reduce that to 15 gallons for the same duration.
Showers are generally cheaper than baths. A standard bath uses 35–50 gallons of water, while a typical 10-minute shower uses only 15–25 gallons. However, very long showers (20+ minutes) can use more water than a bath, making them more expensive. You might also find our calculate Estimated Annual Cost, Annual Lens Cost & Solution Cost — Contact Lens Cost useful.
Heat pump water heaters are the most efficient, operating at roughly 300% efficiency (COP 3.0) by moving heat rather than generating it directly. Electric tankless heaters come next at ~99% efficiency, followed by electric tank (~92%), gas tankless (~82%), and gas tank (~60%).
The most effective strategies are installing a low-flow showerhead (can cut water use by 30–40%), shortening shower duration, lowering your water heater temperature slightly, and upgrading to a more efficient water heater. Even shaving 2 minutes off a daily shower can save hundreds of gallons per month.
Multiply your flow rate (gal/min) by shower duration to get total gallons. Calculate water cost by dividing gallons by 1,000 and multiplying by your water and sewer rates. For energy cost, calculate the BTUs needed to heat the water based on temperature rise, convert to kWh or therms, apply your heater efficiency factor, and multiply by the energy rate.
10 liters (about 2.6 gallons) is very minimal for a shower — at a standard flow rate of 2.1 gal/min, it would last only about 75 seconds. This might suffice for a very quick rinse but is not typical for a comfortable shower. Most showers use 60–100 liters (15–25 gallons).