Save green by lowering your utility bills
Smarter technology makes for a better planet
“Green” technology means good health . A healthy building can save you 20% to 30% on utility bills, and it makes for a healthier planet.
For each kilowatt-hour (kWh) you save through the application of energy-efficiency technologies, you are reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide (primary cause of global climate change), sulfur dioxide (key component of acid rain), and nitrogen oxides (responsible for smog). Home improvement with Energy Star Savings is an investment in your home’s and your family’s wellness and in our world’s health.
You can’t see energy, except maybe in your power bill. Most green products will make a visible difference in your utility bills, some faster than others. Below are a few that can help your pocketbook.
- Water heater - Older water heaters can waste 27% in energy, and they provide less hot water.
- New, efficient furnace or boiler - A new high-efficiency heating system can often cut your fuel bills and your furnace's pollution output in half. If you heat with gas, upgrading your furnace or boiler from 56% to 90% efficiency will save 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
- New air conditioning system - Outdated units can waste up to 40% of your energy. According to the U.S. Department of energy, the average American home consumes more than 2,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, causing power plants to emit about 3,500 pounds of carbon dioxide and 31 pounds .
- Programmable thermostat - Here’s one of the easiest ways you can save energy, money, and help fight global warming, and it’s automatic. A programmable thermostat can lower your heating & cooling utility bill 3% to 14% a year while it makes keeping your home comfortable easy and convenient.
- Whole- building power ventilator
- A whole house fan can replace all of your home’s stale air every two minutes with fresh outdoor air.
- Front- loading clothes washer - The new high-efficiency washers consume 40% less energy than standard washers and use just 18 to 25 gallons of water a load, compared to the 40 gallons used by a standard machine.
- Air-conditioner and furnace tune-up - Like your own annual physical, this crucial yearly visit from the PDM Air Conditioning Doctor can double your unit’s life expectancy, keep the manufacturer’s warranty current, and lower utility bills—and most important, spot a problem before it becomes potentially life-threatening. •
- Water filtering systems
Bottled water swells landfills with nonbiodegradable plastic trash. It takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to make that plastic, and the water can cost as much as $7.00 a gallon. Learn how pure filtered water from your faucet can add convenience and savings. Learn how pure filtered water from your faucet can add convenience and savings.
- Plugging air leaks
According to the EPA and Energy Star, you cansave up to 10 percent on utility bills just by plugging air leaks.
- Energy Star fluorescent light bulbs
Use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
15 ways to lower your water bills
Given area water-sewer rates are increasing up to 35%, now's the time to learn how you can save water and money the easy way.
- Add low-flow faucet arateors.
Bathroom low-flow aerators can deliver 0.5 to 1 gallon per minute (gpm) with the same force of spray, but often in a more pleasing fashion. Kitchen faucets may require a higher flow rate of 2 to 4 gpm if you regularly wash dishes. If you tend to let the water run when washing dishes, the lower flow rate of 0.5 to 1 gpm may be more appropriate. Some kitchen aerators will allow you to flip between two flow rates without affecting the water temperature.
- Fix leaking faucets or install new ones.
A dripping faucet can waste an amazing 20 gallons a day—or more. And an old faucet can use up to 5 gpm. New high-efficiency faucets can use 1.5 gpm or less. The average family home, retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, can save up to 30,000 gallons per year.
- Install a new toilet.
This can save up to 6 gallons per flush (gpf). Toilets use approximately 30% of our water. A family of four will save more than 14,000 gallons of water each year by installing 1.6 gpf toilets and more than 17,000 gallons of water per year by installing dual flush toilets (1.6 gpf solids or 0.8 gpf liquids). Do you flush five times a day...continue reading
- Check for toilet leaks
Add food color to the toilet tank and wait 30 minutes. Then check the toilet bowl to see if coloring appears. If so, your toilet leaks. Flush the toilet promptly to make sure tank is not stained.
- Fix leaky toilets and sticking flush handles.
The EPA say 20% to 40% of all toilets leak! If your toilet flush handle frequently sticks in the flush position, letting water run constantly, replace or adjust it. Toilet flappers last about five years—unless you’re using those white puck-like toilet bowl cleaning tablets. Then you may find that your flapper is leaking in two years or less! Touch the flapper. If the coloring from your flapper gets on your fingertips, your flapper is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. A silent toilet leak can waste from 30 to 500 gallons of water a day—10,000 gallons a year—while the ones you can hear will waste much more.
- Heat water right in your bathroom.
Demand hot-water recirculating pumps work. They save up to 16,000 gallons of water each year and use less energy than it takes to run a 25-watt light bulb…to say nothing of the tremendous ecological benefit that goes along with it. Get instant hot water at every faucet.
- Shower faster.
If you shorten your showers by one or two minutes, you can save five gallons a day. If you took a 10-minute shower every day with an old-fashioned 5 gpm showerhead, you'd use 18,250 gallons a year.
- Install low-flow showerheads.
These can reduce your water waste by as much as 60%. A standard showerhead uses 4 to 7 gpm. A low-flow showerhead uses 2.5 gpm or less. With a fifty-fifty mix of hot and cold water, the savings in heated water would be about three gallons per minute of showering. So, during a five-minute shower, a low-flow showerhead saves about 15 gallons of heated water. Multiply that by a spouse and two teenagers (and longer shower times) and you can easily save 60+ gallons of heated water in just one day of showering. You'll enjoy a low flow showerhead in more than one way.
- Wash full loads of laundry.
This common-sense measure can save 15 to 50 gallons per load.
- Run the dishwasher only when it’s full.
Save 2 to 5 gallons per load.
- Be water-wise when washing dishes by hand
Don’t leave the water running for rinsing.
- And save water in shaving and brushing your teeth.
Don’t let water run while you’re shaving or brushing your teeth. Save 8 gallons a day.
- Store drinking water in the refrigerator.
Save by not running the tap until it gets cold.
- Use your garbage disposal sparingly.
15. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks. Save 8 to 18 gallons a minute.
- Improve your bathroom, save water and save money with a new toilet. For honest help, call the oldest plumbing company in town.
For honest help, call the oldest plumbing company in town.
Do you flush a toilet 5 times a day?
140,000 flushes in a lifetime is a lot of water down the drain.
According to a Water Conservation Study, the average person flushes the toilet five times a day.
Those five flushes you make may not seem like much until you realize that each time you flush an older 3.5 - 7 gallons per flush (gpf) toilet, you use 6,400-12,800 gallons/year. Add family members and a lot of water is going down the drain.
Since 1994, all toilets sold in the U.S. use 1.6 gallons per flush, or less. Replacing old toilets with newer models in your home can save up to $125 and up to 10,500 gallons each year, depending on utility rates and usage habits.
Standard Efficiency Toilets
Using the new 1.6 gpf toilet, the same five flushes use 2,900 gallons per person, But even with this reduction in water usage, standard-efficiency toilets use roughly 26% of all water used indoors.
Dual flush saves more.
A short flush for liquids and a full flush for solids can save up to 25% more than standard models.
High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs)
New high-efficiency toilets use 1.28 gpf (or less). Although HET's use less water, and are efficient in emptying the bowl of waste, industry associations are not supporting their use, yet.
Over the course of your lifetime, you will likely flush the toilet nearly 140,000 times.
Improve your bathroom, save water and save money with a new toilet. Call the oldest plumber for honest help.
Back to top
Waterless Urinal
Waterless urinal work completely without water or flush valves. The waterless urinal is touch free, improves restroom sanitation and eliminates odors. A Waterless fixture can save 40,000 gallons of water per fixture per year. Virtually splash-free surface along with odorless, easy-to-maintain performance.
