Bath vs shower – which is better for you and your wallet?

A common misconception is that showers use less water and are cheaper – but often this isn’t the case. We compare the costs of taking a bath vs a shower, as well as how they compare for other benefits.

An average bathtub will hold about 180 litres (60 gallons) of water, although when we take a bath, we only tend to fill it to the top if we’ve accidentally left the taps running! On average, we use about 80 litres (18 gallons) of water when we take a bath, according to Waterwise, an independent, not-for-profit organisation promoting water efficiency and conservation.  

When taking a shower, the amount of water we consume depends on the shower type, but either way, an “average” 10-minute shower uses more than a bath. A traditional shower will uses 12 litres (21 pints) of water a minute, while a power shower uses 15 litres (26 pints) a minute.

The price you pay for your water will depend on your regional water supplier and whether you have a metered or unmetered supply. If you have a water meter, the more water you use, the more you’ll have to pay. And with personal bathing making up 33% of our overall water usage, the amount you use when taking baths and showers will have a big impact on your bill.

To calculate the costs, we took the amount of water used in litres, converted it to cubic metres (by dividing by 1000), and then multiplied by £1.94 – the amount Anglian Water charges standard metered customers for each cubic metre of water in 2023/2024.

The price you pay will depend on your water supplier and whether you have a water meter, but this gives a good indication of the difference in cost.

In the case of most baths, the water is heated by a boiler. This is also true of standard mixer showers. In these cases, our calculations are based on heating the water from 10°C (50°F) to a comfortable 40°C (104°F), a few degrees above normal body temperature, using a gas boiler. This works out at 0.03kWh (kilowatt-hour) of energy per litre.

Heating an 80-litre bath would therefore use 2.4kWh of energy and running a standard shower for 10 minutes (using 120 litres of water) would use 3.6kWh of energy. A power shower (using 150 litres of water) would use 4.5kWh of energy.

Under the current Energy Price Guarantee, the current cost of gas is capped at just over 10p per kWh (until April 2024, although prices may fall before then. Rates vary by region and are higher if you don’t pay by direct debit or have a prepayment meter.)

However, we also need to take into account electric showers. Rather than use a boiler to heat water, an electric shower has a built-in element that heats up cold water from the mains. They are one of the most expensive appliances to run in the home, using between 7kW and 10.5kW. We’ll take 8.5kW as an average. 

The Energy Price Guarantee for electricity is currently around £0.34 per kWh (again, there are regional variations). So to work out the cost to run 8.5kW shower for ten minutes, we divide by 60 minutes and then multiply by 10 to get the energy used in kWh, then multiply by 0.34. 

Baths and showers have unique benefits, but when it comes to hygiene, showers win hands down. In a bath we’re immersed in both soapy suds and our own dirt, but with a shower, the grease and grim run away with the constant stream of water. 

What you gain from a bath or shower depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to feel energised and alert, ready to start the day, a short, sharp shower will awaken you. And depending on the size of your household and the number of bathrooms, showering is likely the quickest and most practical option. 

However, if your muscles are tired and you’re hoping for a good night’s sleep, a long warm soak in the tub will help ease your tired body and prepare you for bed.

Having a permanently squeaky–clean bathroom is almost impossible unless you have a resident cleaning fairy. However, keeping the dirt at bay with regular cleaning and maintenance, whether cleaning a bath or shower, will help avoid more arduous cleaning challenges in the future. 

Showers can be harder to clean, because you may get limescale build-up on the shower enclosure, or limescale or mildew on your shower curtain. Mira Showers recommends wiping down the enclosure regularly and using a shower spray to reduce cleaning time. Method’s daily shower spray prevents soap scum, dissolves mildew, hard water stains and lime stains, and is available for £4.  

However, if you need to blitz the limescale, Mira Showers has a handy guide to banish the unsightly, chalky deposits. Ventilating the bathroom regularly will help avoid mildew build-up, and you can try cleaning the shower curtain with diluted bleach, or a specialist cleaning product. 

According to the Energy Saving Trust’s At Home with Water report, personal bathing is the largest single use of domestic water consumption. So, can we save water and still keep clean? The answer is an undoubted yes, we just need to change our behaviour – whether that’s taking a shorter shower, or switching to a bath.

• Keep an eye on the time with a ShowerBob – a four-minute shower timer that doesn’t need a battery, available from Amazon for £7.99.  
• Turn down the heat with the Mira Mode dual shower and bath filler that can be controlled through an app. It’s an investment at £787.98, so best for those that are already replacing their shower. 
• Reduce the flow of your shower to eight litres a minute with a ShowerSave, available from SaveWaterSaveMoney for £3.49.  
• Opt for a small-capacity tub – we like the Twyford Shallow Bath with a water capacity of 135 litres (30 gallons), available for £307.56 at PlumbNation. 

It’s easy to assume that taking a shower uses less water than filling up a bath, but unless your shower is brief, it’s not necessarily the case, as our calculations prove. If you’re a speedy showerer and are in and out within a few minutes, you’ll save compared with taking a bath.

However, if you enjoy the sensation of idling under a warm stream and the boost of a power shower, you’ll be spending more than on a bath. Not surprisingly, the cheaper option is better for the environment too.