When you’re thinking of home renovations, kitchen and bathroom are often the first that come to mind. A quick bathroom upgrade is indeed the easiest and fastest way to add value to your home. But while you’re renovating a bathroom, making some thoughtful changes can help you make your bathroom more efficient. And while adding cost-effective heating and cooling fixtures is one way of making such changes, there’s so much more you can do to increase your bathroom’s efficiency. Upgrading your bathroom plumbing is one way to increase its efficiency. With water utility costs increasing steadily, having efficient and cost-effective fixtures in the bathroom is important. Upgrading your plumbing with the latest high-tech fixtures can help save water while cutting down on the costs. Here are some quick bathroom upgrades that can increase the efficiency of your bathroom.
Switch to Low-Flow Upgrades
In an average home, showering accounts for almost 20% of the indoor water consumption. And if you also count flushing toilets, high-pressure faucets, etc. the water consumption, and wastage, is pretty high.
Using low-flow showerheads and toilets can reduce your water consumption by almost 70%. You can also install low-flow faucets and other fixtures. These fixtures can help you save water, electricity, and money. Plus they are also a more eco-friendly option that will increase the efficiency of your plumbing. The less water you use, the less stress your water heater has to go through. It also increases the life of your appliances.
Use Tankless Water Heaters
Small changes can also go a long way in changing your life. Most water heaters store hot water in a tank and to maintain its temperature, they use more energy. Plus, you have to wait for a few minutes before getting hot water in the showerhead. Tankless or on-demand water heaters don’t store hot water.
They heat water only when you need it and hence, use less electricity. Plus, they are also easier to install. Replacing your existing water heater with a tankless heater might initially cost more, but it can help you save a lot of energy later!
Insulate Your Pipes
Adding extra insulation to your water heater, your pipes, and the outer walls near the pipe can also reduce your energy consumption. If your pipes aren’t properly insulated, they lose heat. This in turn makes your water heater work harder leading to more water wastage and energy consumption. Insulating the pipes can solve all these issues or even prevent them from happening altogether! Another easy way to save energy is to insulate your water heater with an outer cover. These small upgrades can go a long way in reducing your energy costs.
Use Pressure Reducing Valves
Water pressure is actually one of the reasons why some homes use more water than others. An average household doesn’t really need so much water pressure in the pipes. In fact, you wouldn’t even notice any change even if the water pressure in your home’s plumbing was cut to half! Adding pressure reducing valves to your pipes can solve this problem for you. Installing pressure reducing valves can automatically control the amount of pressure that flows into the pipes. This can help you regulate the water pressure in your plumbing while saving money and electricity.
Install High-Efficiency Toilets
Only adding a few fixtures cannot do much to make your home energy-efficient. It is essential to make some big changes. Did you know that you use almost 3.5 gallons of water every time you flush a toilet? Installing high-efficiency toilets can reduce the water consumption by more than half! You can go for green plumbing options but they tend to be expensive. You can also try the double flush toilets or bidet sinks for more comfort as well as savings. However, a simple upgrade to latest bowls can also reduce your water consumption to 1.3 gallons per flush. With a simple change, you can save a lot of water and also cut down on your costs considerably.
Upgrade Your Fixtures
Other than the above given changes, there’s so many small changes you can do to increase the efficiency of your bathroom plumbing. Upgrading to low-flow toilets can save a lot of water and electricity.
Similarly, changing your faucets to ones that are low-flow can save you a lot on water and energy bills. You can also consider adding faucet aerators and flow restrictors. Faucet aerators can insert air into the water that comes from the faucets. This makes the water pressure seem higher than it is.
Flow restrictors can help you regulate the flow of water in the pipes. You can also try other energy-efficient fixtures to lower your energy consumption.
Upgrading your plumbing with these latest advanced technological inventions can really help you save more on energy, costs, and water. While these updates may sometimes seem costly and high-maintenance, they can actually save you a lot of money, electricity, and water in the long run!
