We’ve become so accustomed to having instant hot water whenever we need it that it no longer seems a like luxury to us. This makes it easy for our usage to gradually creep higher and higher.
But did you know that your hot water accounts for around a quarter of your gas bill?
So, making a few small reductions to your everyday hot water usage can make a noticeable difference.
Try these five tips and see if you can save some money on your energy bills by reducing your family’s hot water usage:
1. Time your showers
Showers are one of the main offenders when it comes to hot water over usage, especially if you’ve got a full house. But simply making yourself more aware of how long you’re spending in the shower can help you to cut down. Get into the habit of using a timer or an alarm and aim for around 5 minutes.
2. Avoid baths where possible
As long as your showers are short and sweet, having a bath is much less economical in terms of hot water. When you do have a bath, be conservative with the amount of water you use and consider sharing the water with another family member.
3. Lower the hot water temperature on your boiler
Modern boilers can produce water that is piping hot, but it’s more economical to heat water to the temperature that you’re actually going to use it at, rather than diluting it with cold or waiting for it to cool down. Turning the water temperature down to around 60° or 65° on your boiler will save you money and prevent you wasting heat.
4. Fit flow regulators
If your shower or taps are particularly powerful you can buy flow regulator fixtures to limit the speed of the water flow. This can help to reduce the amount of water you use during your time in the shower as well as preventing excess wastage while waiting for hot water taps to heat up.
5. Use the kettle for big jobs
If you’re doing a job that requires a large amount of hot water, like cleaning your floors for instance, boil a kettle of water and use that mixed with small amounts of cold. This will be more energy efficient than heating up huge amounts of hot water using your gas supply.
If you’ve tried reducing your hot water usage but your gas bill is still high, it is worth getting a boiler service to professionally assess your system. A boiler service from BASI can take as little as an hour or so and starts from just £60. Talk to one of our team and arrange yours now.
