I love gadgets that save water. On my blog at Savegreenly.com I write about kinds of water and energy saving devices. Rarely do I find one that offers such a fast payback as the following one. Recently I bought an invention that claims to cut hot water use by over 2,700 gallons a year. The Evolve Ladybug showerhead adapter fits between the head and the hose or pipe. It is not a showerhead but rather is a valve that senses when the water becomes hot and slows it to a trickle.  It sells for under $30, pays for itself in four months and saves thousands of gallons of water. Sound too good to be true?

So, you ask “how can this gadget pay for itself in only four months?”.  Here is how it works. Let’s say that in the morning you turn on the shower, which depending on where the hot water heater is in your house, may take up to a few minutes to heat up. You race around the house getting kids ready, etc, before you jump in. In the meantime tens of gallons of expensive to make hot water has gone down the drain. The Ladybug hot water saving adapter turns the flow down to a trickle the instant the water gets to 95 degrees. Now you just have to jump into the shower, turn the valve all the way on and take a shower as usual.  You don’t have to worry about making it back to the bathroom just as the water turns hot. It will already be hot when you return and you won’t waste but a few cups of water in the meantime.

Does The Ladybug Hot Water Saver Reduce Flow?

With the valve turned on to shower mode you will see no loss of water pressure whatsoever. The maker claims that this long lasting valve will save over $75 a year in hot water heating costs and also 2,700 gallons of water, which is becoming quite expensive in some cities.

You can get these small valves in a variety of finishes, from bronze to copper and polished chrome. They cost less than $30 and offer the highest payback of almost any energy saving device you can buy. 

I have uses the Ladybug shower hot water saver every morning now for several weeks and it has worked perfectly each time. These come with a year warranty and since they are fairly low tech, are made to last a very long time.

I would give this water saving device four and a half stars out of five. If it were ten bucks cheaper I’d give it five stars but since the payback is so fast I can justify $27.00. 

Looking  For More Ways To Save Water?

You might also consider buying a dual flush conversion kit for your toilet, which has a handle that works two ways, to reduce your water bill even further. You can find out how to install one of these dual flush retrofit kits here: Dual Flush Retrofit Kits

Click on the photo for more information and specifications.