Meet ‘Spike’ – the shower curtain that saves you money

Lingering in the shower, not ready to get out, while your electricity or gas bill climbs – how do you gather the willpower to get out? Well, if you’re short on self-discipline you could try this inflatable shower curtain. After four minutes in the shower, the soft spikes in this curtain inflate to gently prod you out of your comfort zone.

Originally created as an art project to promote conversations about saving water, Elisabeth Buecher’s design is now being trialled for commercial production. Heating water accounts for around a third of electricity bills in New Zealand homes – so if you’re a shower lingerer, this invention could save you some serious money.

And that’s also good for the environment. Cutting down on hot showers not only saves the precious resource of water, but also the resources used to heat the water. In New Zealand fossil fuels still generate around 15 per cent of our electricity – and mostly at times of peak power consumption (like in the mornings and evenings when everyone is showering). So saving power in these peak times is one of the best ways to reduce New Zealand’s overall use of fossil fuel-powered electricity – and help fight climate change.

And okay four minutes might be a bit tight if you are washing your hair – but do we really need 15 minutes-plus in the shower? Spiky curtain says no.