Our water bills may be among the lowest bills we have to deal with at home. We may take it for granted but resources and energy are needed to get clean water into our homes and then more energy is needed to heat that water.
Although ‘cheap’ we can make savings on our water bill and water heating costs with some simple adaptations
Reducing the Amount of Water Used
2. Choose a shower rather than a bath. A bath can use between 100 and 150 litres of heated water.
3. Choose an energy efficient shower head. It will reduce the amount of water you use by up to half, this will reduce your water and energy usage and save you money on your bills without noticing. We purchased the Lowenergie Water/Energy Saving Shower (ECO 5 Function Purple) it works better than our previous power shower head, the shower stream seems fatter and more powerful, but it is a little bit noisier.
A water efficient shower head uses approximately 9 litres per minute, so for a 3 minute shower you would use 27 litres, a lot less than having a bath. However a power shower uses 51 litres for a 3 minute shower. An older style shower head could use 19 litres per minute, 57 litres for a 3 minute shower.
4. Place a water saving ‘brick’ in your toilet cistern(s), don’t actually use a brick, but plastic bottles filled with water or a large ziplok bag will do.
5. If you have a garden, get a water butt to intercept water from your gutter downpipes. The water is softer and better for plants, both outdoor and in.
Reducing the Amount of Energy Used to Heat Water
- Dishwasher, we used to use the 30 minute quick cycle thinking that it would be more efficient. It actually used 200w more per wash than the much longer eco wash. You should refer to your dishwasher manual to find the most economic program. WE didn’t believe it at first and used our energy monitor plug to check!
If you are fortunate enough to be on an Economy 7 type tariff set the machine to work in the night.
- Washing Machine. Again we used the manual to identify and use the most economic programmes for each type of wash. We also no longer using the tumble dryer function as this uses a massive amount of electricity.
Reducing the Amount of Chemicals & Plastics Used
One thing we have found it very difficult to do is reduce our use of ‘single use plastics’ and chemicals. I do use a ‘bag for life’ when shopping but most of the things I put in it – cleaning and hygiene products – come in single use plastic bottles. There is very little choice in supermarkets when it comes to reducing the amount of plastic we consume. Some ways in which I have managed to cut down my use of plastic and chemicals are listed below, but it is quite a feeble list!
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- We use SMOL eco-friendly dishwasher tablets. You can try them for free (You get 9 in a trail pack for the cost of £1 postage = 11p per wash!) by ordering a sample online here – https://smolproducts.com/pages/dishwash-subscribe These are made in the UK, are completely plastic free, with 100% recyclable packaging and only cost 16p per wash, which is cheaper than the brand I used to use.
In the washing machine for detergent we use an ‘Ecoegg’. Again I wasn’t sure that this would work! The Ecoegg replaces detergent and fabric conditioner. It will last for 70 washes before needing to be topped up with extra pellets, this works out at around 11p per wash. My old detergent that came in a plastic tub cost me 23p per wash. I do use additional conditioner as I like the extra softness. It is important that you clean your washing machine with their detox tablets prior to first use otherwise your clothes can smell musty.
- In the shower I use a solid shampoo bar. Faith in Nature do several that last for ages (are not more expensive than my old shampoo) and come in recyclable cardboard packaging. I can recommend the Lavender & Geranium bar. They come in several flavours, but other companies also do solid shampoos and conditioners.
