Tips For Energy Conservation When Heating Water

How energy efficient is your plumbing system? For example, do you know whether your water heater wastes lots of energy or converts most of it to the heat in your hot water? if you don't know the energy efficiency of your water heater, you need an assessment to identify the relevant areas of improvement. Here are some of the measures that may improve your water heater efficiency:

Insulate Your Water Pipes

You lose energy efficiency when you use naked water pipes. This is because the water flowing through the naked pipes will lose some of their heat before reaching your water fixtures. In fact, in some cases, you may be forced to set your water temperature slightly higher so that you can still have the desired temperature at the fixtures even after the losses. You can avoid all these by insulating your water pipes to avoid heat loss.

Locate the Heater Strategically

Another tip is to locate the water heater near the areas where you need heated water the most. This works because it reduces the distance the hot water has to travel from the heater to the point of use; the shorter the water has to travel the less heat it will lose.

Install Heat Traps on the Heater

Modern water heaters have integrated heat traps that prevent heat loss. The traps work by preventing heat loss via convection and by preventing heated water from flowing out of the water. If you have a relatively old water heater, however, it might not have the traps. However, there are aftermarket heat traps you can have installed to perform the same function.

Plug All Water Leaks

The more hot water you are losing via leaks the more energy you will be losing because you will have to heat more water to replace the lost one. Therefore, you should examine your water heating system to identify points of leaks and plug them.

Don't Use Hot Water Unnecessarily

Another tip is to use hot water only for cases that call for hot water use. For example, most clothes can efficiently be rinsed with cold water so using hot water on the rinse cycle is just a waste. Therefore, examine your use of hot water and eliminate the unnecessary ones.

Invest In an Efficient System

Lastly, you can also save further energy by investing in an efficient hot water system. This is particularly advisable if you have an old heater that is frequently breaking down, which means you need a replacement heater anyway.

Contact a service, like R & B Inc Heating & Air Conditioning, for more help.

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