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Show - 1 - - - - - - - - - ii i ii f " . .1 N It Makes "' Cents I 'ByVi'BCake ' '-Mi. ' 1 .1 .1 I . I . I, ...... I. . ., II I I I Next to heating your home, your water heater is the second biggest use of energy, according to "Homebuilder Business," which is considered an authority on the subject. sub-ject. This reminds me of some i house guests from England who, during their stay with us, seemed to constantly marvel that we could afford af-ford hot water at the turn of the faucet The custom in England, according ac-cording to them, is to heat water only when needed, and frugally at that. Anyway, this prompts me to talk about ways to cut down on this ! cost. - When you want to drain the cold water out of the pipes (to a bathroom or the kitchen sink, for example) turn the faucet to its hottest possible setting, then, when the hot water appears, mix it to the desired temperature. Never, never turn on the hot water faucet unless you really need hot water. The cold water you drain out by doing this will cool the water wa-ter in the tank, causing the heat source to turn on long enough to bring the water temperature back up to its setting. Watch for drips. Even a small drip in the hot water faucet wastes as much as 60 gallons of hot water a week which, of course, results in a sizeable increase in your energy bill. Instali flow restrictors in showers to reduce the flow to about 3 gallons per minute. We prefer a shower head with an extension that lets you put the water just where it's needed. Train your family to wet, turn off, soap, turn on, and rinse. Certainly, it's pleasant but it's also costly to bask in a hot shower. (We noted that when we had two young ladies staying with us who loved to shower often and long. Our power bill doubled that month). Install aerators or spray heads in hot water taps to reduce the flow. Use the cold cycle on your washing machine, especially for colors. There are many cold-water detergents on the market that do a good job without hot water. Cut down on laundry whenever practical for your family. There's no reason why.a bath towel used to wipe clean water off your clean body can't be dried and reused several sev-eral times. The bath towel will not be very wet and thus will dry quickly if you wipe off the water that clings to your body with a washcloth before finishing the job with the towel. The number of times you'll wring out the cloth indicates how much water it removes-water that the towel would otherwise have to soak up. Do as much household cleaning clean-ing as possible with cold, rather than hot water. Run your sink garbage disposer with cold, not hot water. (A good water-saving practice also is to run the disposal with the water used to rinse or wash dishes). Unless you have a dishwasher, which requires a water temperature of 140 F, set your water heater temperature tem-perature to 120 F. You can save 3-7 3-7 gallons of hot water every time you wash dishes by not using the rinsehold feature on your dishwasher. dish-washer. When buying a water heater, make sure it has thick insulation on the shell. Add insulation to the outside of your present water heater. A kraft-backed insulation 3 12 inches thick can reduce by half or more "standby" losses of water temperature (when no hot water is being used) thus saving you $1.00 or more each and every month. Also insulate any sections of water pipes that pass through unheated areas. ar-eas. If possible, locate your water heater in a warm place rather than in an unheated garage or basement and as close as practical to a bathroom, bath-room, kitchen or laundry room, where hot water will be most used. Turn off your water heater switch before adjusting thermostat or when you are going away from home for a week or more. Sediment buildup in a water heater lowers its efficiency so flush is out once a month. Keep a supply of hot water for coffee, chocolate, or other needs in a thermos with a spout so that water wa-ter doesn't have to be heated each time. By practicing these and related economics, we can effect sizeable savings without depriving ourselves at all. Readers: This is your column. If you have good ideas to share or if you need help with a problem, write to: IT MAKES CENTS, 328 South 300 East, St. George, Utah 84770. If I use your letter here, I'll send you $2.00 or a copy of "Kitchen Tricks" or "Discard Tricks." Please state your choice. |