According to Energy.gov, water heating is the second-largest energy expense in your home and typically accounts for about 18% of your utility bill after heating and cooling.
But there are steps you can take to reduce your hot water usage and heat your water more efficiently.
Leaking faucets, fixtures and pipes can significantly increase costs related to hot water use. A leak of one drip per second wastes 1,661 gallons of water and can cost you up to $35 per year.
Your water heater is still storing hot water even if it isn鈥檛 being used. If it is not well insulted, there can be a large amount of standby loss from heat lost while the heater is standing by for use.
Water heater blankets can help you have 4% to 9% of your water heating bill and reduce stand by heat loss by 25% to 50%.
Select a showered with a flow rate of fewer than 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm) for maximum efficiency. Some showerheads that were installed before 1992 have a flow rate of 5.5 gpm. If your showerhead was installed before 1992, follow these steps to see if you should replace it:
The biggest cost of washing clothes and dishes comes from the energy required to heat the water. In fact, a full-sized ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer uses 14 gallons of water per load, compared to the 20 gallons used by a standard machine. That's a savings of more than 2,000 gallons of water per year.