Water Heating

Water heating is the third hugest energy expense in cold areas. There are four ways to cut water heating bills:

1. Use less hot water,

2. Turn down the thermostat on the water heater,

3. Insulate the water heater, and

4. Buy a new, more efficient water heater.

Leaking hot water pipes and taps could account for higher power bills. Fixing the problem is much cheaper than paying a higher power bill. Hot water pipes lose heat rapidly before they reach the kitchen, bathroom or laundry taps. To avoid the heat loss you could simply wrap them with pipe lagging material along the overall length of the pipe. The lagging will also shorten the time you have to wait for hot water to get to your taps. If the pipe is not accessible, wrap at least the first metre of hot water pipe coming out of the hot water cylinder.