5 ways to reduce water usage

Reducing your water usage at home is an easy way to save money on your utility bills and help do your bit for the environment. Sounds like a win-win to us!

In this blog post, we’ll discuss some simple tips and tricks you can start using today to reduce your water consumption and save on energy.

1. Keep the showers short and sweet

The shower is the biggest water guzzler in most homes, accounting for around 27 percent of the average household’s total water use. Throw in the fact that about a third of your household’s energy usage goes on water heating, and it’s easy to see how making a few tweaks to your showering habits can lead to big savings on both power and water.

Reducing shower time is one of the easiest ways to cut back on unnecessary water consumption.  A 15 minute shower costs about $1 in electricity, while a five minute shower costs just 33 cents. For a family of four that’s in the habit of taking 15 minute showers, switching to five minute showers could save about $19 a week. That’s $75 a month and more than $900 a year!

Keep the showers short and sweet by setting a timer, or have some fun with it and make a curated playlist of songs that are less than five minutes long. When the song finishes, that’s your cue to exit the shower.

2. Invest in low-flow showerheads

Investing in a low-flow showerhead is a simple and cost-effective way to reduce water usage.

As the name suggests, a low-flow showerhead is a type of showerhead that restricts the amount of water that flows through it. Whereas regular showerheads can use up to 18 litres of water a minute, low-flow showerheads typically only use around 8 litres of water a minute. Less hot water flowing out of your showerhead means less energy is needed to heat the water, which can help lower your energy bills.

Thankfully, reducing water flow doesn’t mean resigning yourself to a life of lacklustre water pressure. Through the magic of aeration (the process of injecting air into the water stream as it flows through the showerhead), modern low-flow showerheads are capable of delivering seriously impressive water pressure despite using a fraction of the water as regular showerheads.

3. Install water flow restrictors

While water flow restrictors are most commonly used in showerheads, they can also be installed in just about any faucet in your house.

As with low-flow showerheads, water flow restrictors help reduce water usage by limiting the amount of water that flows through the pipe. This means that you'll use less water when you wash your hands, brush your teeth or do the dishes. Over time, these savings can add up to a significant amount of water saved, which can help you save money on your water bill.

Flow restrictors are easy to install and can be purchased at most hardware stores for less than $20.

4. Upgrade to energy-efficient appliances

When the time comes to upgrade your whiteware, take the time to shop around and look for some energy-efficient appliances that are within your budget. Energy-efficient appliances are designed to use less water and energy than other models, which can lead to significant savings over time. This is particularly true when it comes to appliances that use a lot of water and energy, such as washing machines and dishwashers.

When weighing up your options, be sure to look at the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) label, which is a scheme that rates the water efficiency of appliances and fixtures. The more stars on the label, the more efficient the appliance - and the more money you’ll save on power and water over the lifetime of the product.

5. Wash full laundry loads

Because washing machines use roughly the same amount of energy and water regardless of the size of the load, doing a full load of laundry is easily the most efficient way to wash your clothes. Waiting until you have a full load of laundry before doing laundry reduces the number of loads you need to do overall, which means you’re using less water, electricity, and detergent.

If you want to get even more efficiency out of your washing machine, consider washing your clothes in cold water. Water heating accounts for up to 90 percent of the total energy used in a hot water wash cycle, so sticking to cold water cycles can greatly impact your power usage.

Modern laundry detergents are carefully formulated to perform just as well in cold washes as they are in hot washes, so rest assured your clothes will still come out of the wash looking (and smelling!) fresh.

Looking for more ways to save on power? Maybe it’s time to make the switch to Pulse Energy. Give us a call today on 0800 473 976 or fill out our online enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly.