Saving Energy With Your Plumbing

Fixing a leaky faucet will not only help you save on your water bill, but will also help you to cut down on your energy expenses as well, especially if those annoying little drips are hot water. Keeping this in mind, when you install water saving devices on your home plumbing, you will also be installing energy savers as well, allowing you to double your savings with one purchase. There are other ways to save energy with your plumbing, most notably in keep your water hot for those enjoyably steamy showers.

Hot water on demand

When you really think about it, you really don’t use a whole lot of hot water over the course of the day. A couple of quick showers in the morning, a few dishes after dinner and a load or two of laundry every week. Even though you don’t use all that much hot water, you still keep a large tank of it sitting all day in the basement, the heater firing up every so often to keep the water inside ready at the right temperature. Installing an on-demand water heater will ensure that you are only heating the hot water you need, and that you are only heating it once. These heaters have been popular for years in Europe, where space for a hot water tank in the basement just doesn’t exist, and they offer perfectly heated water in seconds. An added benefit is that you will never run out of hot water on those weekends when family comes to visit and you’re running more showers than normal.

Pipe insulation

Another big energy waster in your plumbing is bleeding cold water out of the pipes until you get a sink of sudsy hot water to do the dishes. That cold water was once hot, so by running the water until it’s hot again only serves in heating the pipes. Wrapping your hot water pipes with foam insulation will help keep water hot longer, so you will no longer need to heat your pipes while you wait for hot water. Using less hot water means heating less water, thus saving both energy and money on your energy bills.

High-capacity appliances

With energy consumption, smaller is usually better, but when it comes to appliances that use hot water, you may want to consider purchasing a high-capacity appliance. Whether it’s for dishes in the kitchen or clothing in the laundry room, being able to clean more with less hot water will help you cut down on your energy consumption in the long run. Running these appliances less often will also mean using less electricity, an extra energy and cost saving benefit.

Whether it’s washing the laundry, the dishes or yourself, being able to control the amount of hot water you use and what temperature you use it at will give you that much more control over your energy savings. When shopping for appliances that use hot water, look for options like water level and temperature control so you know that you are only using the hot water that you need. By greatly reducing the amount of hot water that you use, as well as the amount you keep sitting around in a large tank, you will greatly reduce the amount of energy you use, as well as what you spend on your energy bill each month.