Your water heater gets used every single day. Considering this, it’s unsurprising that it accounts for 18% of your home’s total energy, according to the Department of Energy. Since your water heater uses so much energy, it’s a great place to be more efficient and save money on utility bills. We’ll run through some simple repairs and changes you can make to make your water heater run as efficiently as possible.

The two main areas you should focus on are reducing your hot water usage so that your water heater isn’t working so hard and reducing the heat loss of your water heater and your pipes.

How to Use Less Hot Water

Installing low-flow shower heads is a great way to conserve energy and water. New low-flow shower heads can use as little as 1.6 gallons of water per minute while still pumping water out at 80 PSI.
Replace your faucet aerators with 1 gallon per minute or less.
Use cold water or a cold rinse cycle to do laundry.
Find and repair leaks throughout your home.
Don’t wash dishes by hand. Modern dishwashers use as little as 3-4 gallons of water for a full load, over 20 gallons less than washing the same amount of dishes by hand.

How to Reduce Heat Loss from Your Water Heater

Invest in a water heater blanket – Like you, your water heater likes snuggling up on cold days. Using a water heater can go a long way to reducing heat loss and energy usage.
Insulate your pipes – You can buy inexpensive pipe insulation from a hardware store to prevent water from losing heat as it travels through your pipes.
Turn down the water temperature – Reducing your water heater temperature from 140 to 120 degrees F can reduce energy usage by 6-10 percent, translating to much savings on your utilities.

These steps are a great start, but when you’re ready to get serious about energy efficiency in your home, we recommend installing a tankless water heater. Modern tankless water heaters provide instant hot water and don’t have to reheat water repeatedly as tanked models. If you decide to make the switch, contact a professional. Your new tankless water heater will be a significant investment in your home and could be damaged if installed improperly.

Learn more about our water heater services in the following locations:

Looking for help with your Tampa plumbing? Well, then check out our friends’ services at ACS Home Services! They offer everything from HVAC to plumbing and even electrical. Look them up in the following locations today: