Chris Billingham, Head of Marketing & Innovation for Methven, looks at how the bathroom products market has shifted to respond to the cost-of-living crisis and how performance without compromise can still be achieved in a difficult economic climate.
The recently announced news that water bills are set for the biggest increase in almost 20 years from April is yet another financial issue for individuals and businesses across the UK to come to terms with.
According to industry body Water UK, the annual bill for an average household in England and Wales will hit £446, meaning if it wasn’t the case already, all eyes are going to be on ways to cut down on bills where possible.
All consumers, whether refit or refurb are looking to save money in the current climate, and this is an added incentive to do so – however, it doesn’t mean that they must suffer in terms of performance.
Reduce energy usage
We are in a new era where installers and customers can select from a range of products to help reduce bills and energy usage. But at what cost to performance?
The wider public’s understanding of the importance of energy efficiency within the home and the wider impact this can have if we all focused on making small changes in the home – and particularly in the bathroom is shifting.
This greater societal environmental awareness has coincided with – and in turn encouraged – a shift in focus from product manufacturers.
While efficiency, performance and cost have always been a tricky trio to balance, Methven offers customers performance without compromise at a time when it is needed most.
Water saving
Our history began in New Zealand and prior to entering the UK market, we have spent decades innovating in the Australia continent, where water saving measures have been a legal requirement for many years.
This insight and experience is invaluable when it comes to creating products to suit the needs of the installer and their customers.
A water efficient shower head is a relatively low-cost upgrade which can make a real difference.
At Methven, our production is driven by the need to future-proof homes and reduce water and energy usage, all without any compromise on performance.
Invigorating shower
Our patented technologies, Satinjet and Aurajet for example, operate at just eight litres per minute providing customers with an invigorating shower that doesn’t compromise on performance, compared to standard shower heads that can use up to 15 litres per minute if unrestricted.
As well as focusing our efforts on ensuring our products are as efficient and easy to install as possible, we believe in providing people with the tools to educate themselves on how to make the smart choice when it comes to water-saving products.
Online calculator
Towards the end of 2022, we launched our online Water Saving Calculator, to show homeowners and developers how switching from a conventional needle jet shower to a water saving showering technology can help save money.
It utilises details such as the number of people in a household, existing shower flow rate and showering time, before advising a suitable handset to reduce water bills – we have seen in many cases that this can be by up to £400 a year, which would almost completely negate the proposed average increase according to Water UK.
At Methven we are committed to conserving energy and water around the world to protect the planet for generations to come.
