the essentials in brief

  • Bathing uses significantly more water than showering.
  • The design of the shower head has a major influence on the amount of water used.
  • With shorter shower times you can save several hundred euros a year.

How does the water get warm?

Practically all energy sources – oil, gas, electricity, solar energy, district heating and heat pumps – are used to heat water. There are differences in the way the water is heated. There are “central” systems in which the water is heated in a large tank down in the basement of a home by burning gas or oil. Other systems heat the water in the apartment, either with electricity (in a so-called instantaneous water heater) or gas. Heating water with solar systems (=solar thermal energy) is particularly good for the environment because they do not generate heat through combustion and therefore do not emit any CO 2 . Because here the water is largely heated with the help of the sun.

Hot water is relatively expensive: you have to pay fresh water and wastewater fees, which vary depending on where you live. In addition, there are the energy costs that are paid for heating the water.

Who uses how much? And how can I save?

How much hot water is used in a household largely depends on the number of residents and their behavior. On average, a frugal person uses around 30 liters of warm water a day and a rather wasteful person uses around 50 liters of warm water a day.

The easiest way to save water is to avoid bathing: for one bath, you can take three 6-minute warm showers. And you can also do a lot when showering: large showerheads often rush through 14 liters per minute, and with rain showers it can even be 20 liters. With an economy shower it is approx. 6 to 7 liters per minute. In order to reduce water consumption, you can easily replace the shower head in the shower yourself (if this is possible with your system).

And what about every single shower? Well: If you shower for 8 minutes with a medium shower head (around 10 liters per minute), you pay around 1.23 euros with an electronic water heater and around 95 cents with gas or oil (at a water temperature of 38 degrees). If you still have a solar system, you still pay around 60 cents. This means you can calculate how much you can save depending on the length of the “shower session”.

In addition to the above-mentioned replacement of the shower head, you can also use a “shower timer” - it shows with a red light or an hourglass when you shower for too long. This means you have time and water consumption well under control.

Tools and experts help

If you want to know which changes in the shower have how much savings potential, you can see it in the shower calculator from the NRW Consumer Center . You can ask questions about these and other energy topics at the “Energielotsen” at the NRW Consumer Center and get information quickly and easily!

Source: Checked4you

Also read: Changing the hot water times – is that even legal?


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