If you're fixtures are over 15 years old, and chances are that they are, you could be missing out on major savings in your utility bill. You could potentially cut your water and sewage bills by upwards of 70% by switching out your current fixtures for Water Saver and Energy Star approved devices.
Our Los Angeles plumbing contractors can help you achieve these goals with an incremental replacement plan or just do your entire house in one fell swoop.
The most economical place to start is at the faucet. Every faucet in your home can be equipped with an aerator device. This will result in the amount of water exiting the faucet to be reduced by up to 30%. Each of these little, screw on additions costs about $10 and will pay for themselves within a year or two of purchase. They don't need to be installed by professionals and are far cheaper than replacing your entire faucet with a Water Saver approved one (they run anywhere from $150 to $400+).
The next place to upgrade your fixtures is in the bathroom. Switching to a low flow shower head can reduce your showering water usage over 50%. A typical shower head uses 5 to 7 gallons of water per minute.
Low flow shower heads use 2 to 3. If you take a 15 minute shower every day, a low flow shower head will save you between 210 and 525 gallons of water per week. If you have a family of 4, that could lead to over 2000 gallons of savings per month. Low flow shower heads are also easy to install and can usually be had for between $45 and $100.
The real savings when it comes to fixture upgrades comes in the area of the toilet. More than half of the water used in a house is flushed down the toilet. Standard toilets use up to 5 gallons of water per flush. Low flow varieties use between 1 and 2 gallons. By switching out older, inefficient, toilets with new eco friendly varieties, a family of four can see a 40% reduction in water usage for the month.
Low flow toilets don't have to break your budget either – there are several generic models available for just over $100.
If you are ready to make the move to a leaner, greener plumbing system call our Los Angeles plumbing contractors to begin implementing a cost effective plan today!