If you are like most homeowners, you spend about $300 per year on water heating alone. Luckily, there are ways to lower this expense that don’t involve taking cold showers. Here are seven things you can do to trim your water heating bill:
Turn down the temperature.
Most hot water heaters are set to 140° by default, which is much higher than necessary. In fact, turning the thermostat down to 120° will not only save energy, it can prevent burning incidents.
Insulate your plumbing system.
Just like insulating your walls can reduce your space heating costs, insulating your plumbing system can reduce your water heating costs. Plumbing insulation is cheap, easy to install, and is available for both your water heater and the pipes in your home.
Use cold water for laundry.
Most clothes don’t need to be washed in hot water. Unless you are doing a load of whites or badly-stained clothing, cold water will do the job just fine.
Fill up your dishwasher.
Running a half-empty dishwasher is essentially wasting half of the hot water used for the load. Be careful of overloading, though; as too many items may require you to run a second cycle.
Install low-flow faucets.
Low-flow faucets are a small investment that can generate some big savings over the course of their lifespan. Many models can cut water usage by 50%!
Flush your hot water heater.
The water in your home contains trace amounts of minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. Over time, these minerals can accumulate in your water tank in the form of sediment, which reduces efficiency. Flushing your tank once per year can get eliminate this sediment and all of its negative side effects.
Go tankless.
Tankless water heaters don’t utilize a storage reservoir; meaning they don’t waste energy keeping water warm when it isn’t needed. When properly sized for your home, a tankless water heater can instantly produce an infinite supply of hot water – which means no more cold showers!
Air Treatment Heating & Cooling offers water heater installations, repairs, and maintenance services to homeowners across Fairfax County, Virginia. We service all makes and models, both traditional and tankless. Visit our website for more information, or call (703) 270-0881.