Sylvania ECOlight Powered by Shower Water

Have you ever tried to take a shower in the dark, like during a power outage? Not a lot of fun, isn’t it? Imagine if you had a light in the shower that is not powered by batteries, but hydroelectric power.

That’s right, the ECOlight is powered by the running of water in your shower. It’s like having a dam on your showerhead! I didn’t take that from the Sylvania Press Release, I swear.

Not only does the shower light give you a bright LED, but it also has an illuminated ring that will change color depending on the temperature of the water. I’m not certain how it works, but the light will be blue if the water is less than 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and red when it is warmer than 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

I am hoping that the ECOlight from Sylvania is the beginning of technology that runs on running water. Imagine a waterproof radio that plays in the shower, and powered by the water coming out of the showerhead.

Why stop there? How about cell phone chargers connected to the faucets in the house. So if you are washing the dishes, your phone is getting the juice. That idea is free to market, by the way, just send me a thank-you note and a percentage of the profits.

If you want to try out the first foray into the mini-hydroelectric power market, feel free to try out the Sylvania ECO light for about $39.99.

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4 Comments on “Sylvania ECOlight Powered by Shower Water”

Alan Says:

So if there is a power cut and you are expecting this light to keep you illuminated, what will be powering the electric shower or pump in your power shower?

neagle Says:

Well, my hot water heater is powered by natural gas. The local water system is gravity fed and the well pumps have back up generators like most US water systems.

Alan Says:

The gas burns it’s self? But fair point if your system is set up like that and you have enough hot water pressure.
But…
If there is a power cut it would not be very economical at all to keep running the shower so you could see while you dry yourself and get dressed would it?

So if there was a power cut the “ECOlight” may end up being used in a way that is more detrimental to the environment than was intended!

Alan Says:

For example:
(During a power cut)
You have a power shower of flow 12 l/min. You run it for 5 minutes to get dressed(60 l of water). You have a change in temperature of say 30C because you forgot to turn the shower to cold. specific heat capacity of water c is 4.19 so =>
Q= c m ΔT , 4.19 x 60 x 30 = 7.542kW of power
Thats a fair bit of power noting that that is heating the water at 100% efficiency!

So in a power failure the ECOlight will use the equivalent ammount of energy as a 500W and a 250W security light ran for at least an hour!

Please let me know if my calculations are wrong.

A side note:
If you have LEDs lighting your bathroom at a 14W rating and the process of showering and dressing takes 15min each day.
3.5W / Day (as its 15 min) 7542/3.5=2154.86 days
so 2154.86/365= 5.9 Years

Basically this means (not including any leap years) that just to dry yourself(1 person) using the light produced by the ECOlight it will use 5.9 Years worth of normal bathroom lighting!!!!

Also please correct me here if my calculations are wrong.

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