|
WATER Twenty percent of the energy consumed in your home goes to heating water. In addition, a significant amount of energy is required to pump, treat, and process water before it enters the water mains. Every drop of water we conserve also saves energy. If your water heater is warm to the touch, install an insulating blanket around it. You should also insulate at least the first 5 feet of hot water pipe leaving the tank. Turn down your hot water heater. If you have a dishwasher, 140öF is the maximum temperature needed. If not, or if your dishwasher has a separate heater, 110öF should be enough. Turn off your water heater if you won't need it for several days, like when you're on vacation. Try cold water detergents for lightly soiled clothes. And use a low phosphate detergentãit will help keep our water clean. Use low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators—they reduce water flow from 8 gallons per minute to 3 and you'll hardly feel the difference. Replace washers on leaky faucetsãa faucet leaking one drop per second wastes approximately 2400 gallons of water a year. Don't waste water when you wash your car. A trigger nozzle on your hose will save at least 20 gallons. Always wait till you've got a full load of laundry to do the wash ‹ a full load uses 25 fewer gallons of water than a half load. Wash clothes with warm or cold water whenever possible ‹ 90% of the energy consumed during automatic clothes washing goes to heating the water. Fully 40% of the pure water you use in your house is flushed down the toilet. Use a displacement device or a container of water in your tank to control the amount of water that's wasted when you flush. You'll save thousands of gallons of water without noticing the difference. Don't let the water run when you brush your teeth, shave, or wash your hands. A running faucet uses 2 to 3 gallons a minute. A leaking toilet wastes 30 gallons of water each day. To check for leakage, put a drop of dye in the tank‹if the color shows up in the bowl in 3 to 4 minutes, the toilet needs to be fixed. Take a shower instead of a bath. The average bath uses two times more water than a 5-minute shower. |