Keeping your home warm is expensive, so is heating water for daily use. If you’ve already put in a lot of effort in decreasing your utility bills, but they are still higher than you’d like them to be, the culprit can be your water heater.
Heating water makes the second biggest energy expense in the house after the HVAC system. So, tweaking your water heater setup and usage habits can save a substantial amount on your energy bill.
Intrigued? The article explains some of the steps that you can take to lower your water heating bill.
Visit the place where your water heater is located, and check the temperature your thermostat is set at. If the thermostat is any higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit, move it back. For every 10 degrees reduction, you’ll be saving 3 to 5 percent energy, and you’ll also be saving yourself and your family from the risk of burns. However, don’t lower it to the extent where you start getting cold water in the taps.
Do you have leaky faucets and putting their fixing off? Then consider it a source of the slow leak - it is 60 drips per minute -, if you do the maths it makes about 3,153 gallons of water every year. If the leaks are from the hot water tap, you are paying for extra water and the energy that is wasted to heat that water.
So, whenever you observe a faucet leaking, get it fixed immediately.
You can surely put off a bathroom upgrade for as long as you want, but don’t procrastinate on getting your plumbing fixtures replaced. If your showerheads and faucets are old, you should replace them with low-flow new models. Modern showerheads use half as much water as older showerheads.
You should try using hot water as little as possible. You should take short showers, use cold water for doing laundry, and run the dishwasher only when it is full. Examine your daily activities, and look for areas and seek opportunities to scale back your hot water usage.
Your water heater can build up sediments over time, and it needs to be removed and drained out. Most of the customer manuals guide regular maintenance every six months, but it is surely worth doing quarterly. Regularly call your repair and maintenance water heating professional initially and learn how to clean it for the future.
The settlement of sediment makes your water heater work harder; this translates into a hefty utility bill and a shorter lifespan of your heater. Cleaning of these sediments takes about 15 minutes.
Heating water that you are not going to use is just a waste of energy and money. Installing a timer on your heater can help you turn the heater off when you are at work or sleeping. If your area charges higher electric rates during peak hours, you can even use the timer to turn off during those hours as well.
Modern water heaters are well insulated so that they will not lose heat. If you have an older water heater, it may not be as well insulated. If you want to know whether your water heater is insulated or not, see the owner’s manual and check the R-value. If the R-value is less than R-24, you have to install an insulation blanket.
If you don’t have the owner’s manual, you can get it checked by a professional water heater installer and repairs and decide about getting an insulation blanket.
