One of the top users of water around the home is the shower, where Americans stand under more than 1.2 trillion gallons of H2O each year, reports the EPA. A typical shower uses up to 25 gallons of the wet stuff, while each American uses an average of 100 gallons of water a day total.
Low-flow showerheads slash bathing water consumption 50 to 70%. You’ll also use less energy heating up the water, unless you have a tankless heat system, in which case it’s a moot point. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses as much energy as it takes to keep a 60-watt lightbulb lit for 14 hours, according to the EPA.
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It would be nice to share the little things we do to be greener. A couple of mine.
1) I haven’t had to run the whole-house A/C much this summer, but do run a dehumidifier. When it is full, I dump it into the washing machine. In a week, I have enough water for a load of wash. Kind of a variation on the idea of rain barrels to capture water for watering plants. Less city purified water used – less chlorine or other purification chemical/energy consumption.
2) People don’t seem to like to turn off lights when they are not used, so I use flourescent bulbs, of course, but I also added a motion detector switch in the kitchen as a pilot project, and now that light shuts itself off 5 minutes after the room is vacated. I’ve found these used in hallways and bathroom in many European and New Zealand hotel-hostel venues. I like the concept.
I would like to find a good source of heat exchanging technology to install and permit exchange of fresh outside air while not throwing the heat out with the air.
Jim,
Thank You for sharing. I like how you get down! Those are awesome idea’s, keep up the good work. I will look into finding you some helpful info on heat exchange.
////Millen