Saving Money Heating Your Water

Did you know that 30% of the energy you spend in your home is used to heat your water?  Try these tips and save money…
One-way valves (heat traps) are inexpensive and they can save you even more money throughout the year.  You can them at your local hardware store and they are easy to install.

Fix any leaky faucets or pipes you might have.  If your hot water side is leaking, then you are paying for every drop that drips.

Drain your hot water heater at least 2 times a year.  This will clean out the sediment that can build up in your hot water tank.  It usually settles to the bottom of the tank, so you only need to drain about 10 gallons from the tank, you don’t need to drain it completely.  By doing this, you keep the water heater running at top shape and this alone can save you money.

Another thing you can do is wrap up that hot water heater.  You can buy a special blanket that will help keep the heat in which will help keep your water hotter longer, so your water tank doesn’t have to work as hard.  Check with your local hardware store to find the best blanket for your hot water heater and installation instructions.

You can also insulate your hot water pipes with a foam or compressed fiberglass tubing.  Contact your electric company to see if they supply this for you.  That will save you even more money if they will do it for free.  If there is a charge for this, check to see how much it will cost to buy it at your hardware store and to install it yourself.

Going on vacation?  Turn your hot water heater off while you are gone.  Why heat water that no one is going to use?  Hot water heaters are constantly heating water.  whether you are using it or not.  That’s so you have hot water when you want it. So turning it off, just means you need to give it about an hour to heat up the water again, once you come home from vacation.  Just make sure you leave yourself a note to remind yourself to turn it back on.  You don’t want to take a cold shower on your first day back to work.

You can also get a timer that goes on your hot water heater.  You can set the timer to not heat water while you are at work, or while you are asleep.  Again, why heat it if you aren’t using it.  You can set the timer to start heating the water about an hour before you get up in the morning if you are a morning shower kinda person.

Wash clothes in cold water.  You can purchase detergents just for cold water washing.  This doesn’t require the heating of your water, so this will save you money.