Cheaper electricity adjusting your water heater
More than 20% of our energy consumption comes from our water heating unit. We use a lot of water, especially while showering. In many of my blogs and pages, I write about how saving water can impact our energy consumption and how can we save on our electricity bill, just by saving water.
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Now, it is turn to save energy with this easy trick of adjusting our water heater thermostat.
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Payless electricity saving energy at home with your water heater.
New water heater
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If you are about to buy a new water heater, check the energy efficiency label. Yes, that yellow tag and the Energy Star comparison. There you will see the difference between water heaters. It can tell you the energy consumption and yearly savings. Of course, there will be a price difference, however, if you take your calculator you can figure which one is best for you.
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Tankless water heater. If you really are into home improvement, I suggest a tankless water heater, however, I recommend asking your plumber before. The reason is that the capacity of the water heater is quite different. What I am trying to say is that, depending on your hot water demand. These tankless water heaters are great, we waste less water and it only heats the water when we demand it. By way of contrast, the traditional water heaters always keep hot water. This is a waste of energy, if for some reason we open the hot water faucet, without really needing the hot water, the water tank will serve the water and you did not even use it. Now the water heater needs to be filled again and the water coming from the street comes cold and the water heater does its job to keep all the water in the tank at the same temperature.
Save energy, pay less electricity, adjust your water heater settings
Going back to our subject. If you are not hunting for a new water heater, then you just need to adjust your water heater settings.
As you can see in the image, there is no need to have the water heater thermostat in HOT. Hot means that the water will be at 160°F. If we keep it in WARM, which is about 120°F is good enough. See your owner’s manual for the best-recommended settings.
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Going out on vacation?
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Some thermostats have a VACATION setting, this will lower the water temperature to the minimum. If you are going to be out of your house for more than 3 days, I recommend using this setting. If you do not have this setting, simply turn the knob to the lowest temperature possible. This will not turn off the water heater, it will just not keep the water heated at a warm level. This will save you a few more. Just remember to turn it back to WARM as soon as you come back from your vacation.
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There are some other maintenance tips we recommend. See image below.
Conclusion of this only uses hot water when you really need it. Adjust the knob as you like the water temperature and remember to lower it while you are away for more than 3 days.
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Follow our blog for more energy-efficiency ideas.
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Cheapest electricity service in Texas
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Prepaid electricity tells you how much you are saving. Enroll yourseld here
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