Your Water Bills: Easy Ways to Plug the Drain on Your Wallet
The easiest way to cut water bills is to conserve what you use. However, there’s no reason to skip showers, become dehydrated or let your lawn turn yellow. Instead, use the following easy ways to save on your water bills and plug the drain on your wallet.
- Install low-flow bathroom and kitchen fixtures: This easy, important upgrade decreases water consumption by replacing fixtures that have a conventional flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute with super-efficient showerheads that consume 1.5 gallons per minute and faucets that use only 0.5 gallons per minute. Installation can be as simple as unscrewing the old fixture and replacing it with the new one.
- Replace old toilets: If you have an old toilet, it consumes up to seven gallons per flush (gpf). Even older low-flow toilets use three to five gallons. EPA-compliant fixtures today use only 1.6 gpf. You can even find dual-flush toilets that use 1.1 gallons for liquid waste and 1.6 gallons for solid waste.
- Put in a recirculation pump: This ramps up the pressure in your plumbing system to deliver hot water to the tap fast. That means no more wasting a gallon or more of water waiting for it to get hot. Recirculation pumps are available in on-demand form or with timers that make hot water available just when you need it.
- Choose a high-efficiency dishwasher and washing machine: Look for a dishwasher that skips the pre-rinse cycle, offers economy mode, and lets you adjust temperature and water amounts. Select a front-loading washing machine that offers a cold-water option, “suds-saver” water usage controls, and cycle adjustment options. Only run these appliances when you have full batches.
- Utilize rain barrels: Set these up at your home’s downspouts to collect free irrigation water during Delaware’s typically wet summers. This decreases your summer water consumption by about 40 percent.
To learn more about lowering your water bills, please contact Sobieski Services, Inc. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).
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