Generally speaking, electric or gas hot water systems account for as much as 20% of a household’s energy usage. Of course this depends on the climate in your area, but you get the general idea.
A big problem is that we turn our hot water heaters up too high. Then to cool the water down to a temperature that is comfortable for washing our hands (for example), we add cold water.
That’s pretty wasteful. It would be better to just turn down the temperature on our hot water heaters.They would use a lot less energy keeping the water hot. It is estimated that for each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3% and 5% in energy costs!
There will also be less heat lost in the pipes when the taps are shut off. Normally hot water sits in the pipes after you’ve drawn some off, and it just simply cools down, wasting the energy it took to warm it up.
Hot water systems also last longer when they don’t heat water as hot, because they don’t have to work as hard, and the cooler temperature is easier on the system as a whole.
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We would like to put in one of those instant hot water heaters, but they're a bit costly and I'm afraid the price of gas could be prohibitive.
Rick -
Good point. Plus, it reduces the risk of scalding along with saving money. A win-win.
Bob, From my research tankless water heaters are a good medium-term investment if your hot water usage is not excessive. The savings are not great, but they eventually add up. If you have a large family then a single tankless unit will probably not be able to keep up, and the savings will be negligible.
Joel,
It seems like common sense, doesn't it.