An overall energy-savings plan is generally thought to involve your heating and cooling system, routine maintenance on HVAC equipment, and such steps as having your home properly insulated. But one often overlooked issue is energy-wasting faucets, toilets and shower heads, among others. Fixtures like these might be wasting energy just as much as an older furnace or air conditioner, and you don't even know it.
Low-flow fixtures, like a toilet for example, use less than half the usual amount of water every time you flush. That means if you aren't using a low-flow toilet, you are using twice the water to accomplish the exact same thing. This ultimately means you're paying twice as much on your water bill, too.
Low-flow fixtures are available for virtually every type of water-dispensing device around the home. They all do the job efficiently, and you'll never know the difference.
Take, for example, a showerhead. A good low-flow showerhead will be in the 1.5 gallon per minute range. A standard 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead will waste 1 extra gallon for every minute you're in the shower. However, in this instance, not only are you wasting water, but it's heated water you're wasting. For a 10-minute shower, you will have wasted 10 gallons of hot water for the same amount of bathing, and you'll pay for that on your energy bill each month.
This same formula holds true with a regular faucet. A 1.5 gallon per minute faucet head is going to be saving you a gallon of hot water per minute, every time you do the dishes or wash your hands. That may not sound like much in a day-to-day situation, but over the course of a month it will add up quickly.
So make low-flow fixtures a part of your energy-savings plan. Because if you don't, it's money down the drain. Literally.
If you would like more expert advice about low-flow fixtures and how they can save on your energy bills, please contact us at Comfort Services. We've been serving the South Carolina Midlands since 1976.
Jun
19
2012
