Reducing hot water can help conserve energy and lower utility bills. With winter fast approaching and soaring electricity costs, its time to consider some simple but highly effective ways to reduce your hot water costs. Here’s a few tips:
1. Reduce your hot water usage
- Take a shorter shower rather than a bath – due to the volume of water required to fill a bathtub and the costs to maintain water temperature for a large body of water, having a shower makes more sense. To save on hot water usage, aim to take a shower in 4 minutes or less. Using a shower timer is a great way to keep track of your time. Remember to encourage other family members to do the same.
- Install a water saving shower head – with various options and budgets for water saving devices, installing one of these is an effective way to reduce hot water usage.
- Run both the washing machine and dishwasher with a full load. Washing your clothes in cold water will save the hot water expense and use the eco-cycle on the dishwasher which will use less hot water.
2. Upgrade your hot water system
- Energy efficiency has become a primary focus for manufacturers of hot water systems in recent years. Upgrading to a newer, more energy-efficient system such as solar hot water or heat pumps can offer several benefits, including reduced energy consumption, lower utility bills, and decreased environmental impact. Newer hot water storage tanks are often designed with improved insulation materials and techniques to reduce heat loss. This helps to minimise standby heat loss, where heat dissipates from the tank into the surrounding environment when hot water is not in use, thereby conserving energy.
3. Insulate your pipework
- Insulating hot water pipes helps to retain heat and reduce heat loss as water travels from the heater to the tap, resulting in less wasted hot water. By retaining more heat within the pipes, insulated pipes ensure that hot water arrives at the taps faster, reducing the time it takes for the water to reach the desired temperature. This not only saves water but also improves convenience for users who don’t have to wait as long for hot water to flow from the tap.
- Without proper insulation, hot water can lose heat as it travels through uninsulated pipes, especially in colder environments or during long pipe runs. This can result in wasted water as users may run the tap longer than necessary to wait for hot water to reach the desired temperature. By insulating the pipes, you can minimise heat loss and reduce the amount of water wasted while waiting for hot
water to arrive. - 4 Energy Savings
- In addition to saving water, insulating hot water pipes can also lead to energy savings by reducing the need for the water heater to continually reheat water lost through heat dissipation in uninsulated pipes. By conserving heat within the pipes, insulated pipes help the water heater operate more efficiently, ultimately lowering energy consumption and reducing utility bills.
5. Replace your heating element
- Newer heating elements in hot water systems are designed to be more energy efficient than older ones contributing to minimising energy waste and improving overall system performance. Newer heating elements comes with better insulation which helps to retain heat within the tank and reduces heat loss. They can heat water more quickly than the older elements reducing the time to reach the desired temperature and therefore reducing the amount of energy consumed during the heating process.
6. Take advantage of off-peak hours
- If your utility company offers reduced rates for running appliances during off-peak hours, such as late at night, consider running your appliances that use hot water, like the dishwasher, during these times.
7. Take advantage of your PV system
- A hot water system can take advantage of a photovoltaic (PV) solar power system by using the electricity generated from the PV panels to heat water. Heat pumps are already energy efficient hot water systems and often have built in timers to pair with a PV system further reducing operational costs.
8. Maintain your hot water system
- Regular inspections can detect and prevent leaks. Even small leaks can waste water and energy, causing your system to work harder to maintain water temperature, leading to higher bills.
- Replacing worn-out parts, such as heating elements or valves, ensures that the system functions optimally. Faulty components can cause the system to consume more energy to heat water effectively.
At King Solar Man, our technicians are plumbers and gasfitters with heat pump and solar endorsement and hold electrical licences allowing the tradesman to fix all issues in the one service call regardless of whether its plumbing related or electrical related. We are even fortunate to have a tradesman on board who holds a full plumbing licence and a full electrical licence. Find out more about how we can help you or get in touch with your questions. Call 0416 075 682 or Contact Us HERE.