Low-Flow Showerheads.

"Low flow?  I don't like the sound of that!" - Morty Seinfeld

There is a Seinfeld episode in which the characters are all forced to use low-flow shower heads.  Their hairstyles reflect their inability to get to rinse the soap out of their hair.  That episode was, no doubt, a sad day for manufacturers of low-flow shower heads.

Keeping this in mind, I search for high-PSI, low flow shower heads.  The efficiency of shower heads is measured in terms of gallons per minute (gpm).  Low-flow shower heads are a dual win because by using less water, homeowners use less energy to heat the water as well.  The very best product I could find was the Bricor Chrome Showerhead B150CH-R.  At 1.5 gpm, it qualifies as super efficient (efficient being 2.0 gpm).  The neat thing about this shower head is its use of passive vacuum booster to pressurize the water flow with air, resulting in 80 psi.  This shower head is available at EnergyFederationIncorporated and BlackEnergy for $64.95. and GoodCommonSense for $63.75.

Here's the good news:  this product really is as good as it sounds.  My wife loves to take long showers, and good pressure if very important to her.  She was delighted with the shower head. 

Low-Flow Faucet Aerators.

The kitchen sink.  Rinsing dishes, washing hands, mundane acts.  Money down the drain.

I found a 2 gpm faucet aerator ( ETL 2.0 gpm Dual Spray Aerator) at Energy Federation Incorporated and at Black Energy for $5.95.  My one complaint about this aerator is that the plastic threads of the aerator seem to not hold too well against the metal threads on the faucet.

We are still researching aerators for the bathrooms; so far, a 1.5 gpm aerator from Black Energy for $0.95 each looks suitable.  I will be ordering three (one for each bathroom).

Toilets.

For now, rather than spend any money on water-saving toilets, I opted for an age-old solution.  I placed weighted filled plastic water bottles in the tank of each toilet.  So far the toilets function the same as before.  The amount of water savings from this act is threefold (we have three toilets, and they are used each day), however the amount of water savings will not approach what could be obtained by switch to dual-flush toilets.  Standard, pre-1992 toilets use about 3.6 gal/flush; dual-flush toilets use about 0.8 gallon flush for liquid and a 1.6 gallon flush for solids (H2ouse).

Our Water Bill

Total Est. Savings in 2008 to date:

$95.5, gallons:12,000

Related Sites.

H2ouse.   Toilet water savings.

US EPA/DOE Energy Star Program.

Major Appliances.

High-Efficiency (HE) appliances are designed to use much less water.  The two appliances we've purchased are an HE clothes washer and an HE dishwasher.  Both are Energy Star rated appliances.

Clothes Washer.

Buying a new appliance is a major decision. After extensive research, we decided to go with a High Efficiency front-loaded washer ( White Kenmore HE2t 3.7 cu. ft. Front Load Washer) and bought it from Sears for about $800.  Due to the good nature of the deliverymen, the free home delivery turned into a free installation.  I guess is pays to be nice to people!

In our experience, this model uses milliliters (ounces) of HE laundry soap, uses MUCH LESS WATER than our old top-loader, handles larger loads, and spins so much of the water out of the clothes that our old gas drying dries the clothes dries the larger load of clothes in about half the time.  Given the relatively low cost of the washer (compared to others with similar performance), this turned out to be a great buy.  Of all of the purchases, this one made my wife jump up and down like a winning game show contestant.

Dishwasher.

We similarly researched HE dishwashers.  Our was 5 years old, loud and inefficient.  We decided to go with the Black Kenmore Elite 24 in. Elite Built-In Dishwasher w/ Ultra Wash HE Filtration, from Sears for about $900.  This model is so quiet that we barely notice when it's running.  The unit uses so much less water that we've had schedule it to run at 5-6AM to allow the hot water tank to warm up in time morning showers.  Our old unit must have been emptying our hot water tank because we would run it at bedtime, and the water would be hot enough for showers in the AM.

Payment Strategy  We decided to use the 12 mos. same as cash on the Sears card.  To pay these off, we are putting $178 extra each month into a high-interest savings account at FNBOdirect.com.   Our current rate there is 5.05% - with no transfer fees to other accounts. These purchase will end up making up money.  This is just one strategy to using credit wisely.  Watch these pages for our upcoming article in late 2008 on how to manage debt and use credit to your advantage.  Or visit debtfreeonyourterms.com and download our simple home budget solution tool.

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