Water Heaters And Saving Energy - Tips For Making It Happen

Water heaters are available in all different models and sizes. You can choose from electric, oil, natural gas, propane, solar and tank less ones. They all tend to vary when it comes to their initial costs as well as their operating costs. For instance if you decided to get a tank less model it would provide you with on-demand hot water but the problem is that it would cost two to three times as much to operate as a standard gas water heater.

If you have gone out and purchased a new energy efficient heater for providing water in your home then you are well on your way to saving money. But even if you do not want to purchase a new model there are still ways that you can save water, money and energy all at once.

Be aware that when the heater is not in use it is still busy doing another job, which is storing hot water. It is when it is doing this that it can lose heat through the tank walls if they do not happen to be insulated as well as they should be. This loss of heat is referred to as standby loss because the heat is lost while the heater is standing by waiting to be used.

To save anywhere from four to nine percent on your water heating bill and to reduce this heat loss by a range of 25 to 50 percent place a blanket or jacket covering on it that is made of special insulation.

Many older water heaters are less energy efficient and their tanks are not as well insulated. To find out if your water tank is an eligible candidate for a blanket or jacket, simply touch it. If the tank feels warm then that is not what you want. This means it is not as well insulated as it should be and could use a jacket. Choose a blanket or jacket that has a rating of R-5 to R-10.

Water heaters expend more energy to produce hot water and therefore this increases your bill. To pay less you need to use less hot water. There are ways to do this without giving up hot showers for cold ones.

Take a look around your water heater. If you notice that it is leaking then it needs to be replaced. The fact that it has sprung a leak can cost you money.

A leaking faucet can also increase your costs tremendously. In fact leaky faucets can waste gallons and gallons of water on a monthly basis. Not all faucets can be fixed in exactly the same manner. When in doubt, call a plumber.

To save water, consider changing to a low flow shower head. These showerheads first started appearing on the market around the year 1992. Before that the older type of showerheads wasted as much as six to 10 gallons per minute (GPM). The modern heads are far superior and use 2.2 GPM.