Saturday, November 21, 2009

How Can Saving Water Save You Money?


Often, many homeowners  - and unfortunately, some energy auditors, as well - overlook the benefits to reducing water consumption in the home. Just like reducing your electrical needs, reducing your water needs can also save you money. The benefits you will receive by reducing your water consumption will vary depending on how you receive your water, but ultimately, there are benefits no matter what the situation!


If you are on a well, you may not see the same, direct monetary benefits as someone who pays for their water. However, there are still benefits, primarily in the form of reduced energy consumption through reduced pump use. If you use less water, you will use less energy. Also, in times of drought, you may be able to make it through without your well going dry, saving you the cost of drilling another well.

There are several areas in the home where you can reduce water use, and some of the reductions are by habit alone. Here are some tips for the water-using rooms of your home:

Kitchen:
  • Use the dishwasher instead of hand washing dishes. This may sound counterintuitive, but this does reduce water usage when washing full loads - according to the EPA, as much as 5000 gallons a year!
  • Install a low flow aerator on the kitchen sink.

Laundry:
  • Wash full loads of clothes only!

Bathroom:

  • Get rid of the old high volume toilets. Old toilets used 3.5 gallons or more per flush. These can be replaced with low volume or even dual flush. Don’t want to spend the money to replace the toilet? Look for tank flush valve that converts an existing toilet to a dual flush.
  • Install an aerator on the bathroom sink.  
  • Install a low flow shower head. Old units can use over 4 gpm. Newer units can help reduce flow to 1.5 gpm without sacrificing power and comfort.
Yard:
  • Don’t use :"set-and-forget" yard sprinklers. These are the ones that you always set in the yard and leave for hours at a time while you are doing something else. These will overwater the yard and waste your money, not to mention make one section of your yard greener than the rest! Consider automated sprinklers or timers. 
  • Use rain or moisture sensors on sprinklers. For those of you who do have automated sprinklers, make sure you have moisture sensors on your units so they don’t come on in the rain or directly after one. Let Mother Nature do her job! 
  • Use rain barrels to collect your water for indoor and potted plants.
  • Use spot watering or soaker hoses for your gardens. If you’re not watering by hand, use direct watering means for your plants in the garden. These can be either be soaker hoses or drip irrigation directly at the base of the plants, which eliminates unnecessary watering of the soil (which promotes weed growth, anyway).



    Set hot water temperature to 120 degrees.

    Setting your water temperature over 120 degrees can not only cost you money, but it is also a safety hazard. We do not typically use the full temperature of our hot water, so why pay to heat something up when you are only going to cool it down?

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