Product Review - High Sierra Shower Head

As a part of my recent interest in conserving water in the midst of California's worse drought ever, I decided to install low-flow shower heads.  I think when a lot of people hear the phrase "low-flow shower head" they cringe.  But they shouldn't technology has come a long way.  First, a little history.

In 1992 the US government mandated that all new shower heads can release at most 2.5 gallons per minute (GPM) of water.  Before that, shower heads might release as much as 5 GPM.  Since then, 99% of all shower heads sold in the US are 2.5 GPM shower heads.  Anything less than 2.5 GPM (even 2.4 GPM) is considered to be a low-flow shower head.  As a result the term "low-flow" when applied to shower heads can be very ambiguous.  Unless you specifically bought a low-flow shower head, your current shower head is most likely a 2.5 GPM design.

But there is a reason why people hate low-flow shower heads - prior bad experiences.  In the mid 90s many shower head manufacturers started releasing low-flow shower heads in the 1 - 2 GPM range.  But all they did was take their existing 2.5 GPM shower head designs and put a flow restrictor in them to reduce the amount of water.  The problem is, a shower head designed for a certain flow and pressure does not operate well at lower flow and pressure.  So people who tried these shower heads got turned off to low-flow shower heads.  The good news is, shower head technology has come a long way since them.  Most manufacturers have gone back to the drawing boards and created new shower heads designed to operate at lower flow rates.  After reading online reviews of many of these shower heads I decided to purchase a High Sierra 1.5 GPM shower head.  This is my review of that shower head.

In short, this shower head is awesome and everyone should consider installing them today!  Yes, this shower head is no looker, but what it lacks in style it more than makes up for in performance and quality!  When I first installed 2 of these shower heads in our house, we were amazed because it was giving us a better shower than our previous 2.5 GPM shower heads.  The water pressure felt higher and it was an overall better shower.  I actually had to check water flow to make sure, our previous shower head was delivering 2.3 GPM and the new shower head was delivering 1.5 GPM.  [Side note: there are two reasons the old shower head was slightly below the rated 2.5 GPM; 1) many of the shower head holes were plugged and 2) when I removed the old shower head there was a piece of plastic in the shower head arm that was partially blocking the flow.]  So the High Sierra shower head saves 1 gallon of water per minute and still delivers a great shower.  This makes the math easy.  If you take a 10 minute shower then you'll save 10 gallons of water.  Multiply that by 365 days in a year and the number of people in your house and you can see the savings quickly add up to some huge numbers!



There are dozens of low-flow shower heads out there, but the High Sierra shower head is different than all of them, and it's those differences are what make this shower head shine.  Most shower heads deliver a shower of water by having dozens or hundreds of small holes through which the water is forced.  But these tiny holes become plugged with debris, mineral deposits, and mold.  The High Sierra shower head is different, it has a single large opening which can't plug, but still spays out the water in a very satisfying spray.  Another great benefit is the construction.  Most shower heads are plastic or thin stamped metal, some even contain moving parts.  The High Sierra shower head on the other hand is machined out of a single block of metal.  Even though it's small in size it is heavier than most shower heads.  You can tell this shower head is quality and will last a long time.

Did you know that all shower heads sold in the US are made in China or Taiwan?  All except the High Sierra shower head.  This product is machined and assembled completely in California - in fact as the name implies it's from the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountain range.

Installing a new shower head is so easy that anyone can do it - it's literally a 3 step process.

1. Unscrew the old shower head.  You might need to use pliers if it's tight.  Clean the shower head arm threads to remove any debris that might be on them.
2. Add about 6 wraps of teflon tape around the shower head arm threads in a clockwise direction.  This step is optional, but recommended as it helps to ensure no leaks.  Teflon tape is cheap, about $1 at any hardware store.
3. Hand screw the new shower head into place.  You don't need to use pliers to attach the new shower head, hand-tight is sufficient.

Even though I love this product, there are two things that keep it from being an absolutely perfect product.  The shower head is slightly louder than our previous shower head.  I would by no means describe the shower head as "noisy."  Just that it makes a little more noise than our previous shower head.  The second issue is if you install the shower head onto a tub/shower combo, depending on how your tub faucet and shower head are plumbed the shower head might make a slight whistling noise when filling the bath tub.  As the water passes through the tub faucet it pulls air through the shower head pipe which causes a whistling noise in the shower head.  This process would affect all shower heads, but given the single-orifice design of the High Sierra is what causes it to whistle.  The noise is slight, and it only happens during bath tub filling.


If you consider purchasing a High Sierra shower head, they make two flow levels; 1.5 GPM and 1.8 GPM.  Some people might be tempted to get the 1.8 GPM since it's closer to the 2.5 GPM they currently have.  But I would discourage this.  My parents installed a 1.8 GPM in their house and the difference between the two is almost unnoticeable, in fact if anything the 1.8 GPM delivers too much water and the pressure might be too high (causing a slight pins and needles feeling).  I would only recommend the 1.8 GPM in two circumstances.  First if your house has very low water pressure (45 PSI or lower) or if your shower head is really high up, like beyond your reach high, like 8' - 10' in the air high.

If you decide to buy a High Sierra shower head and you order directly from the manufacturer, try the coupon code "WATER"  This code allowed me to save 10%.  Of course I can't guaranty this code will still work in the future, but it's worth a try.