Conservation
Atlanta Plumbing Plus wants to encourage you to do everything you can to conserve our limited fresh water supply and reduce our nation’s dependence on non-renewable energy resources. We also want to help yousave $$$! The tips on this page will help you do just that! These tips cover:
Your water heater can be a major source of energy and water loss. It is important that you check it at least once every 6 months.
Check the setting on the water heater thermostat. For every 10 degrees the temperature is lowered, you will reduce energy usage by 3 – 5%. Set the thermostat at 120°F for the best compromise between performance and conservation and to reduce the possibility of scalding.
If you are going to be away from home for more than a few days, set your water heater to the vacation setting. If yours is an older water heater that does not have a vacation setting, then shut off the gas to the heater. If you do not feel comfortable relighting the heater when you return, call Atlanta Plumbing Plus.
Installing a fiberglass insulation jacket around your electric water heater and pipes can also save energy. But, it not advisable to put a jacket around a gas water heater because it can be a fire hazard if installed near the open flame.
- Rumbling sounds from a water heater are an indication that sediment has built up on the bottom of the tank. What you are hearing is water that is trapped in the sediment and is boiling. This is an indication that the water heater is not operating efficiently and that the sediment needs to be flushed out of the water heater.
- Sediment in your water heater can also reduce its efficiency by preventing heat from transferring to the water in the tank; instead, this heat is lost through the flue pipe. Sediment can also cause the tank to corrode, which shortens the life of the water heater. Many newer models of water heaters have a feature that prohibits the buildup of sediment in the tank. If your heater is an older model and has a lot of buildup, it may be cost effective to replace the water heater.
Click here for more detailed instructions on how to check and maintain your water heater.
To save energy and money, you may want to consider replacing your older, traditional, storage tank water heater with a new High-efficiency Tanked water heater, a Tankless water heater or one of the new a Hybrid water heaters. These newer water heaters use from 20% – 60% less energy than a traditional water heater. They also last longer than a traditional tanked water heater, saving you money on future replacement costs, reducing the amount of energy used in manufacturing, and reducing the amount of material in landfills. The initial cost of these newer water heaters can be substantially higher than for a traditional water heater, but the energy savings over time are considerable. And, you may be able to offset some of the initial cost with government rebates and tax credits as well as rebates from manufacturers and utility companies.
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These links will take you to pages of information abouthigh-efficieny tanked, tankless, and hybrid water heaters that will allow you to save on your utility bills and be good to the environment at the same time. |
If you have fairly large home built in the typical Atlanta style with the water heater in the basement or garage on one side of the house and the some of the bathrooms one or two floors up on the other side of the house, you may have to run the water in a bathroom for 2 – 5 minutes before it gets hot. This wastes 2.4 gallons of water a minute every time you wash your hands or take a bath or shower. By having Atlanta Plumbing Plus install a recirculating pump on your hot water line, you can have hot water to any bathroom faucet in 10 seconds or less without wasting a drop of water.
There are 3 different kinds of recirculating pumps:
- A basic recirculating pump that is always on and uses about the same amount of energy as a 40 watt light bulb.
- A medium grade recirculating pump that has a timer on it. You set the timer to circulate the water during the busiest times of day for your family; for example, first thing in the morning and again between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening. Then, the timer shuts the pump off during the times of the day when nobody is home.
- A higher-end recirculating pump that has a button you can press any time you want to circulate hot water through your system. This type of pump shuts off when it senses that the water at the faucet farthest away from the heater has reached the appropriate temperature (approximately 10 – 15 seconds after you start the pump, depending on the size of the house.)
A dripping faucet can waste as much as 15 gallons of water each day, or 450 gallons per month. Repairing the faucet can save water and reduce your water bill. It can also reduce your energy bills if your hot water faucet is leaking.
Make sure the aerator on each of your faucets has not been removed and that it is stamped with 2.5 gpm to reduce water flow while still maintaining good water pressure. You can even purchase an aerator with a baffle that further reduces the flow from 2.5gpm down to .5 gpm.
Click here to learn more about choosing, installing, and maintaining a water saving faucet.
Replacing an old shower head can save up to 7.5 gallons of water per minute and with the newer shower head designs you will still get the same spray and water pressure you did before.
Click hereto learn more about choosing and maintaining shower heads.
When they are running properly toilets can use over 40% of the water used in your home. When parts are worn, that amount increases dramatically. Running toilets can waste as much water as a leaking water line. Testing your toilet and installing a new flapper and fill valve every few years will keep your toilet running efficiently. Click here to read more about toilet repair and maintenance.
If your toilet is old, cracked, or a real “water guzzler” it may be time to install a new low-flow toilet. The federal government requires new toilets to use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush; and, to encourage water conservation some water departments in metro-Atlanta offer rebates to customers who change to low flow toilets. So, if you have an old 3 or 4 gallon toilet you can save a great deal of water – and some money – by switching to a newer model. And, don’t worry about functionality. The first toilets manufactured to meet the 1.6 gallon standard did not flush well; but, recently manufacturers started making toilets that force water out of the holding tank much faster. While this can be noisy, the force of the water does clear the waste out of the bowl very well. So if you have an older water-saving toilet that never flushed well, you can save water and still ensure a clean flush by switching to one of these newer models that flush as little as 1.1 gallons.
Of course, if your old water guzzler toilet still looks good and flushes well and you are not ready to install a new water-saving toilet, Atlanta Plumbing Plus can still help you save water by installing a “Dual Flush Converter” in your existing toilet. This converter will allow you to select a 0.8 gallon flush for liquids or a 1.6 gallon flush for solids.
Now, if you want to save even more water – and save space in your home – why not impress your friends and have Atlanta Plumbing Plus install one of the new water recycling toilets that incorporate a faucet and sink in with the tank, so that the water you use to wash your hands fills up the toilet tank and is used to flush the toilet.
The federal government requires all new toilets to use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. Some counties, such as Dekalb County, require you to replace a water guzzling toilet with a new low flow toilet before you sell your home.
To help you with the cost of replacing your toilet, the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District works with most county water departments to provide rebates to homeowners who replace their water guzzlers with a qualifying toilet. The complete list of qualifying toilets and participating counties can be found at http://www.northgeorgiawater.org/html/315.htm, along with a Rebate Application form.
The list of approved toilets is long. It contains many well known brands such as American Standard, Kohler and Toto. It also contains many less well know brands. Atlanta Plumbing Plus can help you choose the right make and model of toilet for your home. We can deliver and install one of these newer toilets that save water and ensure a clean flush; and, we will even remove and properly dispose of the old toilet.
Even a tiny crack in a water line can waste more than 250 gallons of water a day. Make sure you check your pipes at least once a year. And, because one of the biggest causes of leaks in the home is high water pressure, check the water pressure on the line coming in to your house from the street annually too. You can buy a simple water pressure gauge at your local hardware store and test the water pressure at an outside faucet or hose bibb near the back of the housIf the water pressure is over 70 pounds per square inch (70 psi) contact Atlanta Plumbing Plus to install a new pressure reducing valve (PRV) to reduce the water pressure coming in to your home.
As winter approaches, make sure all of the pipes in your basement, crawl space, and attic are properly insulated to protect them from freeze breaks and to reduce your energy bill.
Click here for more detailed instructions on how to check and maintain your water lines.
When you are considering ways to save money and protect our planet, consider these numbers:
17 million barrels of oil are used each year to produce plastic bottles in the USA.- 1.5 million tons of plastic waste from bottled water are put in our nations landfills each year. This plastic does not degrade. It will be there forever.
- Hundreds of millions of gallons of gas are needed to transport bottled water to retail locations and consumers’ homes. Hundreds of millions more gallons of gas are needed to transport the waste plastic to landfills.
- A single 12 oz bottle of water can cost as much as $2 depending on where you purchase it; and congressional investigations have revealed that much of the time the water in these bottles is nothing more than unfiltered tap water.
- You can create your own filtered water at your faucet for as little as $2 per 2,000 gallons using one of H2O Harmony’s Water Filtration System.
Help Atlanta Plumbing Plus achieve its goal of NO MORE PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES IN LANDFILLS and save money at the same by having us installing water filtration system in your home.
Call us at 770-447-0374 to have one of our licensed plumbers test the quality of your water and recommend a system for you.
There are other ways to protect our nation’s limited water supply. One of them is to stop using the harsh chemical drain cleaners sold by most “Big Box” stores. Instead use BioSmart™ a patented natural solution approved by the EPA as being safe for you, your home, and the environment. Using BioSmart regularly can help clear current clogs and prevent them from recurring in the future. Using BioSmart guarantees you the convenience and peace of mind of living with clog-free drains all year round. Atlanta Plumbing Plus is an approved vendor for the sale of this natural, biological drain cleaner that is safe for both human handling and for the environment. Just call Atlanta Plumbing Plus at 770-447-0374 and we will have some delivered to your home today.
