Why the heck is this $400 (!) showerhead such a Kickstarter superstar?

Ilyce R. Glink
·Yahoo! Homes Contributor
 
 

The humble shower: basically the same, every day, in and out--and it has been for nearly a century. One company hopes to change that—and they've got a lot of support.

The Nebia showerhead made its debut on Kickstarter in August and blew past its original backing request of $100,000 in just eight hours. Now the company has raised about $3 million for its initial rollout of futuristic showerheads (and it still has about three days left).

Not that Nebia is hurting for cash. According to the New York Times, Apple CEO Tim Cook has invested in the company along with a few other Silicon Valley muckety mucks. They can at least afford the $400 price tag.

 
 
 
 

What makes the Nebia so noteworthy? According to the company, they changed the size and distribution of water droplets, creating more surface area while using a fraction of the volume.

Co-founder and CEO Philip Winter offers this (somewhat romantic) description: It's like being totally embraced by water, experiencing the shower in a way you never have before.

Or the "just the facts" version: New nozzle technology atomizes streams of water into millions of tiny droplets, creating more surface area while using less volume, translating into an apparently satisfying shower that uses 6 gallons of water to the traditional nozzle's 20.

Despite the misting spray appearance of the shower head, the company assures us that "we know you're all wondering. … Yes, it does rinse your hair."

For those who have had the chance to try it, there are good but somewhat mixed reviews:

• The New York Times says: "It made my hair feel flat and uncooperative, though my skin felt soft and relaxed."

• BuzzFeed says: "It felt like stepping under the nozzle that mists vegetables at the grocery store," and called it unusual, but not in a bad way.

• Wired says it's like "hugging a warm cloud."

The shower is also apparently easy to install. It comes with some adhesive that you can employ along with a simple screw and plumber's tape, so you don’t have to dismantle your shower tile.

The showerhead moves up and down on a track to accommodate both short and tall.

So far more than 7,000 people have backed the Nebia by purchasing it (another 700 backed with a few bucks). At this point, only the $299 version remains; it was once as cheap as $249. The retail price will be $399.

For that kind of cash, hopefully the experience truly does make showers "better in every way."