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Using Less
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Consuming fewer resources doesn't have to mean living with inconvenience or suffering some kind of loss of comfort. Intelligent consuming often means both lowering the stress placed on the environment AND improving your own situation.
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Install low flow showerheads and faucet aerators. This is an easy and cheap way to get almost automatic savings. For example, a 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead will cut your rate of consumption by a third to a half. For a typical eight minute shower that means 20 gallons of water used rather than 30-40 gallons. A good low-flow showerhead will still give you a great shower. In fact, it might give three members of your household a good shower during the morning rush on the bathroom facilities instead of the one and half showers possible with a water guzzler showerhead. Intelligent conservation can make for abundance.
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Take showers rather than baths to get clean.
An eight minute shower using a 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead uses 20 gallons of water. A typical bath tub holds 60 gallons of water. Take a bath to relax but take a shower to get clean. For a comparison of costs, click here.
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Wash clothing in warm water instead of hot or in cold water instead of warm.
Most fabrics don't need to be washed in hot or warm water. Most detergents work well in cooler water and cooler water does not set stains. If you're in the market for a new clothes washer, consider buying a
Resource Efficient Clothes Washer
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Heating Water More Efficiently
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The greatest inefficiency of an electric hot water heater lies in the heat it loses during the time is sits around waiting for us to turn on the hot water tap. For purposes of this discussion, please consider the pipes that carry the hot water from the tank to the tap. This heat loss is commonly referred to as the "standby loss" and minimizing it increases the efficiency of the system. There are two main ways to reduce the standby loss: 1) either increase the insulation between the hot water and the cooler environment or 2) decrease the temperature difference between the hot water and the environment. With that in mind, we offer the following suggestions:
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Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees Farenheit (130 degrees if you have a dishwasher that doesn't have a temperature booster).
At this temperature you save energy and reduce the danger of scalding. Most people consider a hot shower to be about 105 degrees, so you should still have lots of hot water for a good shower or two especially if you've installed a 2.5 gpm showerhead. A 52 gallon water heater set at 120 degrees should provide enough hot water to supply three eight minute showers with a low flow showerhead.
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When you set back your thermostat, remember to turn off the power to the unit as a first step. Also keep in mind that an electric water heater has two thermostats and you need to reset both.
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Investigate whether or not wrapping your hot water tank makes sense.
In recent years manufacturers have increased the amount of insulation they install at the factory but there are still some old units still in use in the Seattle area. If you've installed a new water heater in the past five years, chances are wrapping your tank gains so little that it may not worth your trouble. If the tank is located in a heated or partially heated space, your house gets benefits from the standby loss. And the task of wrapping an insulation blanket around a water heater can be unpleasant. The blankets themselves are relatively inexpensive to buy, and could pay back their cost in lower electric bills in less than two years.
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How do I determine the age of my hot water heater?
You can often learn the age of a water heater by looking at the unit's serial number. The last two digits probably represent the year the tank was manufactured. (e.g. a tank with a serial number: xxxxxxx99 was probably made in 1999).
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If your tank is older than five years, check for excessive standby loss by placing the palm of your hand against the side of the tank. If you feel a noticeable warming of your hand, chances are wrapping the tank will help. Be sure to read any caution labels on the tank before starting this project and be sure to wear protective clothing if you wrap the tank yourself.
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If your hot water tank is older than 12 years, consider replacing it with an energy efficient model.(Look for an Energy Factor of .91 or greater.) The average life for electric water heaters is about 14 years.
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What about tankless or demand water heaters?
Gas-fired demand water heaters can offer significant advantages. However, electric demand water heaters tend to save less energy than manufactures claim while placing additional demands on the electric utility. For more information on these devices check out the
FAQ's
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Conservation questions and feedback: email Yen Chin
yen.chin@seattle.gov
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