Planning a home improvement project soon? Why not try making your bathroom an eco-friendly space? Your bathroom is the room in the house where water use is the highest. The longer you stay in the bathroom, the more water you use and the more energy for heating, lighting, and ventilating is used, too. This all translates to skyrocketing water and energy bills every month.
With the bleak forecast about global water and energy scarcity, there’s no better time than the present to gradually transform your home into an eco-friendly space; and the bathroom is the perfect place to start. Here are six ways to achieve an eco-friendly bathroom:
Install Low-Flow Faucet Aerators:
Faucet aerators are fixtures that are capped on the faucet opening to reduce water use, control its flow, prevent splashing, and increase perceived water pressure. How does it work? Faucet aerators save water (and therefore, save you money on water bills) by introducing air into the water flow, so there’s less water flowing but still enough to wash things.
With a low-flow faucet aerator, you can reduce rate of water flow from 2.5 gallons per minute (standard faucets) to as little as 0.5 gallons per minute. That’s saving about 80 percent of water every minute the tap is on.
Faucet aerators are affordable and easy to install. You can get one for $5 to $10 dollars, depending on the brand and features added to the aerator. When buying the a low-flow aerator, make sure you have the right size and one that is compatible with your faucet. Installing the new aerator only takes a few minutes. Just unscrew the old one using a wrench, turn on the tap to wash away debris, and cap on the new aerator. Make sure not to apply too much force to avoid damaging your faucet.
Change To A Low-Flow Showerhead:
Do you like taking long showers every day? If the answer is yes, then you’ve found the primary culprit for your skyrocketing water bills. Standard showerheads use from 2.5 to 4 gallons of water per minute. So every time you shower for 30 minutes, you’re using about 75 to 120 gallons of water. That’s 15 to 24 times more water used than the average person in a developing country. (The statistics is 20 liters of water or 5.3 gallons per person.) When you change to a low-flow showerhead, you save one-half to two gallons of water every minute you shower. Of course, this only works well when you cut down on your shower time, too.
Now, if you don’t have a low-flow showerhead but you’re noticing a change in water pressure this could be a sign of a water pump problem. This is something you will want to get looked at by a professional. If you’re handy and experienced with this type of repair, however, you might be able to use a guide like this https://www.ronix.ir/mag/home-water-pump-installation-guide/ to install a new water pump if it’s needed.
Go For A Water-Efficient Toilet:
Old toilets are one of the biggest water wasters in your house. They consume about 3.5 to 7 gallons of water per flush, which is a lot for one use. In contrast, new toilets only use an average of 1.6 gallons per flush. If you want an eco-friendly bathroom, then you may want to switch to a water-efficient macerating toilet. Water-efficient or low-flow toilets save more than regular modern toilets. Some models can go as low as one gallon for every flush. Getting one with a macerating pump also helps with preventing toilet clogging, which saves you from expensive plumbing bills.
If you are installing any new features in your bathroom, it is so important that you hire a professional if you don’t have the skills to do it yourself. Attempting to do so can result in pricey repairs that will waste even more time and money. There are very helpful platforms that can connect you with skilled Local Tradesmen in your local area to take on these jobs for you. Explore these options carefully and do your research so your eco-friendly bathroom will always be performing to the highest standards.
Use Energy-Efficient Light Fixtures:
The bathroom is the place where you do most of your grooming, like shaving and doing makeup. These are delicate activities that need good lighting to avoid injury or mess-ups. However, inefficient light bulbs are some of the chief reasons for high electricity bills.
For places like the bathroom, that require good lighting, use energy-efficient light bulbs. These include compact fluorescent lamps, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and halogen incandescents. Energy-efficient light fixtures can last 3 to 25 times longer than traditional light bulbs and save from 25 to 80 percent more energy, making them the eco-friendly choice.
Not only is swapping out for energy-efficient lighting fixtures a money saver, but it will also give the space a mini makeover. While choosing more eco-friendly options for your bathroom, you might want to do a full fledged remodel altogether. This is something that a professional team should assist you with. To begin researching experts, simply enter a search for “bath remodel twin cities” (or your local area) to transform your bathroom into both an eco-friendly and inviting space.
Switch To An Energy-Efficient Exhaust Fan:
Ventilation is essential to keeping your bathroom clean, odor-free, and mold-free. A constantly damp bathroom is conducive for mold growth. However, when you ventilate your bathroom after use, you remove excess moisture and inhibit the buildup of mold spores.
There are two ways to ventilate your bathroom. You can either open the window and door or use an exhaust fan. An exhaust fan consumes energy and can result in mounting energy bills when used too often. It’s not always ideal to open windows and doors, too. Open bathroom windows may invite unscrupulous people (or bugs) in your home while open doors will just transfer the odor (and whatever else is in the air) into another part of the house.
Since you can’t do away with ventilating your bathroom, you can use an energy-efficient fan. To find one, search for an Energy Star-rated model and get 60 percent energy savings compared to standard vent fans.
Choose Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies:
Many cleaning products available in the market today contain harmful chemicals that are dangerous to your health and bad for the environment. Their ingredient includes phtalates present in air fresheners, dish soap, and some toilet papers. Phtalates are harmful to the endocrine system can and reduce a man’s sperm count.
Harmful chemicals, like perchloroethylene (Perc), triclosan, 2-butoxyethanol, and ammonia, attack your health and negatively impact the environment, and they’re common ingredients in many household cleaners.
Avoid these chemicals by opting for eco-friendly products or homemade products that are proven to have no harmful effects. You can consult the non-profit Environment Working Group for a list of cleaning products to avoid.
Take The First Step:
Wasting water and energy has far reaching impact to the environment and the earth’s resources. With global warming, climate change, and scarcity hitting the world in all corners, it’s high time for people to take action to reverse the damage that’s been done to the earth. Converting your bathroom into an eco-friendly space is the first step to building a more sustainable environment for you and your family. Why not start now?
Featured Image By: Pixabay
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