How can I keep my hot water heating costs down?

About 30% of an average households energy use is for hot water heating. This is almost as much as heating your rooms!  So it's important to make sure that your hot water system is affordable to run. Here are some tips to manage your hot water heating costs.

Around 80% of hot water us is for showers. If your shower fills a 10 litre bucket in less than a minute at the normal shower setting, install a low flow, energy efficient shower head or a flow restrictor. A typical family with a mains pressure cylinder could cut hot water use by around 25%, just by fitting an efficient shower head or a flow restrictor. This could save around $160 a year on your energy bill.

Hot water cylinders installed after 2002 will be A-grade and insulated. Older cylinders are poorly insulated, and fitting a wrap and lagging the pipe work from the top of the cylinder could achieve savings of around $80 a year.

Have your hot water temperature checked - it should be set at 60°c. The temperature at the tap should only be 55°c. An extra 10°c could cost you $20 to $30 a year. Not only does excessively hot water cost you money - it's also dangerous!  Children burn more quickly than adults - it is very important that your hot water is set at a safe temperature.

Fix any dripping hot taps by replacing the washer or fitting.

Take a shower rather than a bath.  

Use cold water for washing your clothes. At four loads a week, this could save you around $50 to $75 each year.

Rinse dishes with cold water rather than rinsing them under the hot tap.

Fill your kettle or jug with cold water instead of hot water.

Some electric cylinders have an open vent pipe which usually sticks up above the roof. If it leaks continuously it's wasting hot water - get a plumber to check it.

If your hot water cylinder is large enough, consider putting it on to a cheaper night rate. A simple way to find out if a night rate is a good idea is to manually turn the cylinder off at 7am in the morning and turn it on again at 11am at night. Do this for seven days. If you have enough hot water for your needs for the whole week, changing your cylinder to a night rate could be a good option. However there could be costs associated with this - call the energy advice service for further assistance.

High energy bills in the summer may be an indication that you have high hot water heating costs. It's a good idea to get your whole system checked by an Energy Adviser.  

If you use a lot of hot water, consider installing solar hot water.

FAQ

Were going away for a few days. Should we turn off the hot water cylinder?

Turning the cylinder off, even for short periods will always be more energy efficient than leaving it on. For example, a 180 litre C grade cylinder is left on for 3 days at 60°c with a standing loss of 2.8kWh per day. The total energy use is 2.8kWh x 3 (days) = 8.4kWh. If the cylinder was turned off it would cool down to about 33°c. The energy required to reheat the water back to 60°c is 5.6kWh.This represents a saving of 2.8kWh, or about 60 cents. The longer you leave your cylinder off, the more money you will save!