Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers
Warm Homes Plan Retrofit Solutions
The Warm Homes Plan places strong emphasis on demand reduction, affordability and real-world system performance. As homes become better insulated and space-heating loads fall, hot water, particularly from showers, represents a growing share of household energy use. Waste Water Heat Recovery for showers supports Warm Homes Plan retrofit solutions by reducing hot water demand at source, improving heat pump efficiency and delivering predictable performance in social and affordable housing.
The Role of Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers
The Warm Homes Plan sets out a long-term framework for improving the energy performance of homes across the UK, with a clear emphasis on demand reduction, affordability and reliable system performance. While much of the sector focus has been on heat pumps, heat networks and solar, successful delivery will depend just as much on how effectively energy demand is reduced inside homes, particularly in social housing and larger-scale retrofit programmes.
As fabric standards improve and space-heating loads decrease, hot water becomes a proportionally larger share of household energy use. In well-insulated homes, showers are often one of the most concentrated and consistent daily energy demands. For housing providers delivering heat pump-led retrofit under the Warm Homes Plan, unmanaged shower demand can influence cylinder sizing, reheat frequency and peak electrical load.
Reducing hot water demand at source is therefore central to delivering practical, scalable Warm Homes Plan retrofit solutions.
Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers (WWHRS) directly supports this objective. By capturing heat from outgoing shower waste water and transferring it to incoming cold mains water, WWHRS reduces the energy required to reach hot water setpoint. The process is entirely passive and automatic, ensuring predictable performance across tenures without relying on behavioural change – a key consideration for social and affordable housing providers managing large portfolios.
In system terms, this means lower hot water energy demand, reduced peak loads and improved operating conditions for low-temperature heating systems. For retrofit programmes, it provides a repeatable way to improve whole-home efficiency while protecting residents from higher running costs.
Recoup Heatdeck™
Integrated Heat Recovery for Bathroom Retrofit
Recoup Heatdeck™, an integrated shower tray with built-in waste water heat recovery, has been designed specifically for retrofit environments where bathrooms are being replaced as part of planned maintenance or wider decarbonisation works.
Key retrofit advantages include:
- Installed within the bathroom footprint without remote vertical drainage
- Suitable as a direct replacement for an existing shower tray for occupied properties undergoing refurbishment
- Easy installation process, no specialist plumber/installer training required
- Reduces shower-related hot water energy demand
- TMV mixer shower or Mira Heatloop™ electric shower compatibility
For social housing providers upgrading bathrooms under Warm Homes Plan retrofit programmes, Recoup Heatdeck™ allows heat recovery to be embedded into existing workflows with minimal disruption. Learn more about Recoup Heatdeck™.
Recoup Easyfit+
Horizontal Under-Bath Heat Recovery for Retrofit
Not all retrofit projects involve full bathroom replacement, and many existing homes have no access to suitable vertical drainage runs. Recoup Easyfit+ is a horizontal waste water heat recovery system designed to fit under the bath, making it particularly suited to constrained retrofit environments.
Key retrofit advantages include:
- Horizontal system designed specifically for under-bath installation
- Installed within horizontal shower waste pipework
- No requirement for vertical stacks or major structural alteration
- Suitable for occupied homes
- Easy installation process, no specialist plumber/installer training required
- Enables rapid, repeatable installation across housing stock
- Reduces shower-related hot water energy demand without increasing system complexity
- TMV mixer shower or Mira Heatloop™ electric shower compatibility
This makes Recoup Easyfit+ particularly relevant to large-scale social housing retrofit programmes where access constraints, installation speed and minimal resident disruption must all be carefully managed. Learn more about Recoup Easyfit+.
Performance at Scale with WWHRS
The Warm Homes Plan places strong emphasis on whole-life value, affordability and performance at scale. For social and affordable housing providers, this means solutions must do more than meet compliance targets; they must deliver measurable reductions in energy demand while supporting the efficient operation of low-temperature heating systems.
Hot water, and especially showers, represent a practical yet often under-addressed opportunity within Warm Homes Plan retrofit solutions. By reducing demand at the point of use, waste water heat recovery strengthens heat pump performance, reduces peak load and lowers overall energy consumption without increasing operational complexity.
As delivery accelerates across the sector, retrofit-ready technologies such as Recoup Heatdeck™ and Recoup Easyfit+ demonstrate how policy objectives can translate into practical, scalable outcomes. Demand reduction is not an add-on to the Warm Homes Plan, it is fundamental to making low-carbon systems work effectively in real homes.
To find out how Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers can support Warm Homes Plan retrofit projects across social and affordable housing, explore our retrofit-ready products or contact our technical team about integrating WWHRS into your next scheme.
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