Your home’s water can be one of the biggest energy users in the home. Many factors come into play when taking into consideration how much energy you’re using to heat water for both everyday and sporadic activities around the house. The type of water heater you have, usage habits, and many other considerations should be made when thinking about ways to save energy while still keeping your home and selves comfortable.
In this blog post series, we’ll touch on a list of items that you should keep top of mind when it comes to your home’s water heater.
- Think about upgrading your water heater. Especially if your water heater is more than 7 or 8 years old, it may be time to think about an upgrade if you’re looking to have more efficient hot water in your home. There are many high efficiency models, both with tank and tankless, from which to choose. Plus, being proactive about upgrading to and installing a new water heater will allow you to avoid disaster if your current water heater fails! You can check out a few internet specials exclusive to BelRed at this link.
- Lower the thermostat. Much like managing the thermostat on your home heating and cooling system, the thermostat on your water heater can be key to saving a ton of energy and money. Just a few degrees lower can help save you big over time. The lower the temperature, the shorter the system has to work to get the water to temperature. Test the water coming out of your faucets and see if you’d be comfortable lowering the temperature a few degrees. It’s likely the case! 120 degrees is a good place to start, then lower it from there depending on your personal preference and hot water needs.
- Skip the bath – stick to the shower. Showers typically use far less water than a bath. Filling your bathtub can take a very long time, which means that’s a lot of hot water used. That also means that your water heater has to work overtime to constantly heat new water to go into the tub. Sticking to the shower (and even going a step further and reducing your time in the shower) will really help you save water and energy.
For a more detailed and personalized list of improvements for you and your home, please contact BelRed today. We’ll help guide you through not only the items on this checklist, but also individual recommendations built just for you and your budget.
