Having efficient electrical appliances throughout the home is an important thing for most people. After all, who wants to be paying a large power bill each month when, with just a few energy-efficient tweaks, your bill could be much lower?
We buy things like energy-efficient light bulbs, and turn the television off in the rooms where we are not using it. But, have you ever stopped to think about where most of your electricity is really being used?
Which are the heavy-hitters in your home for electricity use? According to the U.S. Department of Energy – the water heater is the #2 most costly electrical appliance in a majority of homes.
This is likely because so much of what you do in your home requires hot water. In fact, you might be hard pressed to name one chore that you do in your home that doesn’t require hot water.
Also, most water heaters are electric and they work to keep a specific volume of water (in gallons) heated to a specific temperature – around the clock. This means that the water heater is always working – leading to a lot of electricity being used.
Here are a few ways that you can keep the water heater in your home working well but, not draining your budget:
- Make sure that you and all of the other adults in your home know how to turn the water off to your water heater. This is important because if your water heater starts to flood or leak – turning the water off is going to minimize the water damage and the water loss.
- Make sure that your water heater is inspected at least one time per year. During an annual inspection of your water heater the technician will check the integrity of the tank and make sure that all of the entrances and exits of the water heater are sealed and not leaking
- As we are moving into the fall season, consider wrapping an insulated blanket around your water heater tank to insulate it and protect it from the cold weather.
Mark these tasks off of your list as we transition from the summer weather to the fall. It is this time of year when getting ready for the fall and making sure your water heater is ready will really pay off.