Water heaters are an invaluable part of any home. This is why we here at Mainline Heating & Air offer a slew of different types of water heaters to accommodate any and all of your needs. While water heaters are beneficial and incredibly important, they don’t come without drawbacks. One notable drawback comes in the form of the energy consumption attached to water heaters. Indeed, your home water heater is a pretty significant contributor to your home’s total energy usage.
Luckily, there is something that you can do about this. If you’re looking to cut down on energy costs and take a step towards energy efficiency, then we’ve got just the thing for you. Here are five effective ways to cut down on your water heater energy costs.
Tweak Your Tank’s Thermostat
One simple change you can make is to turn down the temperature on your tank’s thermostat. By default, water heaters are set at around 140 degrees. This temperature needs to be maintained, which in turn utilizes a significant amount of electricity. Now, we aren’t saying to drastically change its temperature to the point where the water isn’t hot anymore. All you need to do is to turn it down a couple of degrees and you should notice a significant change in your electricity bill.
Lessen Your Hot Water Usage
Aside from lowering the temperature on your tank, you can also cut down on energy costs by using less hot water. If you can manage it, we suggest limiting your hot water usage. You can do this manually or make use of tools such as low-flow showerheads. By cutting down on your hot water usage, you’ll effectively reduce the costs that are associated with reheating the water in your tank.
Drain the Sediments From Your Tank
Sediments in your tank can make heating incredibly energy inefficient. To add to this, the sediments can also end up damaging your tank if left unchecked. We suggest regularly draining your tank of the sediments to ensure that your tank is working optimally at all times. For the best results, try to drain your tank at least once or twice a year.
Insulate Exposed Hot Water Pipes
A lot of energy is wasted due to exposed pipes. If you want to improve your home’s energy efficiency, we recommend insulating any exposed hot water pipes in your home. Luckily, this is something that you can do yourself. All you need is to purchase self-sealing pipe sleeves that can easily be installed on any of the pipes in your home.
Insulate the Water Tank
While some tanks are insulated, this isn’t always the case. This is especially true for older water tanks. If your tank isn’t insulated, you’ll need to insulate your water tank to prevent unnecessary energy usage. This is especially true during the colder months of the year, as keeping the water in the tank warm will require more energy during winter. All you really need to do is to wrap an insulating blanket around your tank. This will help reduce the total amount of heat lost, which in turn will lead to a reduced electricity bill.
Conclusion
We hope these tips prove to be useful when it comes to helping you reduce your overall energy consumption. You don’t need to do everything we mentioned, but we do recommend making use of the tips that best apply to your lifestyle. While some of the things we mentioned on this list may require you to put in a little bit of work, it will all be worth it in the end due to the amount you’ll be able to save on your electricity bill.
If you are ever in need of quality products, Mainline Heating & Air has got you covered. Our quality products include air conditioners, heat pumps, gas furnaces, air handlers, package units, home generators, tankless hot water heaters, UV lights, humidifiers, filtering systems, and dehumidifiers. For more information, check out the rest of our website!
