How High Are Your Electric Costs? Here are 5 Tips on How To Lower Your Hot Water Bill
Anyone who has ever been presented with a shockingly expensive hot water bill knows just how stressful high energy bills can be.
More often than not, California residents have a hard time figuring out exactly why their energy bills are so high, which means it can be quite difficult to make any effective changes.
Given the fact that hot water bills can account for up to 25% of your overall home energy bill, it should stand to reason that this is an area which must be focused upon. Unfortunately, not many homeowners think to address this system with energy improvements.
So how can we address this percentage? What are the best practices? Here are five ways to reduce your water bills, each of which can work in tandem with one another for best results.
1. Go Low Flow
One of the keys to ensuring that your hot water bill doesn’t get out of control is to focus on reducing water consumption.
There are a number of ways to save water, with the primary methods consisting of utilizing a low-flow shower-head and simply taking fewer or shorter showers. Less water means less expended energy, which translates to lower bills.
2. Turn it Down
Everyone likes to take a hot shower, but there’s no need to go overboard with it.
Overheating your water is not only drying to the skin, but it can also lead to higher bills, as you’re utilizing more energy to achieve higher water temps. Keeping the temperature of your water around 140 degrees is recommended, as this is both a comfortable and energy-efficient range.
3. Keep Things Warm
While utilizing less water and taking shorter showers can certainly help to conserve energy, so too can keeping your water warm in the first place.
Insulating your pipes is a great route to take when attempting to achieve such results, and it doesn’t have to be nearly as expensive as you might think.
4. Make Use of Cold Temps
In situations where you don’t absolutely need to utilize warm or hot water, you should strive to avoid doing so if possible. Take washing your clothes, for example. Warm water may be necessary in certain circumstances, but in most cases, cold water can be used.
Over time, this will help to save you quite a bit of money on your energy bill.
5. Fix Leaks
If there’s one thing that should be avoided at all costs for California homeowners, it’s wasting water.
Waste occurs when you take too long of a shower, but it also happens when you have leaky pipes. Fixing leaks at the source is essential to keeping these issues at bay, and it’s a relatively easy task that can come along with a multitude of benefits.
The importance of conserving water is something that simply cannot be overlooked, and this is especially true in California. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help by conducting a home energy audit.
