Save this Summer with your North Shore Plumber
It’s coming into Sydney’s third consecutive record high temperature summer. It’s going to be a scorcher. While your first thought might be a mad rush for sunscreen and a beach umbrella, or to install an air conditioning unit, you probably hadn’t considered talking to your local North Shore plumber to review water wise things you can be doing around the home to preserve our precious water supply this summer (and save your hard earned dollars!).
Let’s get you thinking a little outside the box to stay green, save money and relieve the burden on the local water reservoir this summer.
Check for leaks around the house
Taps, pipes and dishwasher hoses can all be leaky. Here are a couple of easy checks you can do in home before calling a plumber:
Turn of all the taps in the house, including the toilets and appliances before you go to bed, read the water metre and take note. If the next morning you have ticked over, you have a leak somewhere. First place to check is your tap washers and toilets.
If you think it’s a toilet, place a small amount of food colouring in the water tank at the back of the toilet. If it has fed through to the bowl within 30 minutes without flushing, there’s a leak somewhere.
It’s important to find leaks and consider the cost effective plumbing solutions available like pipe relining (link to pipe relining services page). Leaks can cause major structural damage if left unattended and cost an absolute fortune to repair. If you have all the telltale signs of a leak (pipe burst service page), it’s important you do something about it ASAP – before the mould sets in. We all know how much mould loves warm damp environments!
In either of these situations, it’s time to call a plumber. It seems simple enough to fix these problems, however it’s really important to get it done once properly – especially leading into the silly season with visitors and other priorities. The last thing you want is a reoccurring plumbing problem. Calling a licensed North Shore Plumber in gets the job done right.
TIP: Replace all your old washers – each dripping tap wastes upwards of 2000L annually! That’s a lot of water you’re paying for that’s slipping through the cracks that could be easily tidied up with a little home maintenance by your local North Shore plumber.
Remodel your bathroom
If you were thinking of remodeling your bathroom – now is the time!
Before the inevitable dash towards Christmas chaos, get going on that renovation you’ve been planning on Pinterest for months. Did you know that if your bathroom is older than 15 years in age, your fixtures and fittings are probably costing you hundreds of dollars extra in water annually? High-pressure fittings, single flush toilets and appliances that aren’t rated 4 stars or above on the water wise scale are costing you money in water usage that newer fittings and fixtures wont. Most of the homes on Sydney’s North Shore are sporting older fittings and fixtures, or renovations that might not have included updating the plumbing be to the best standard in water preservation. Updating these might be less expensive than you think, especially when you consider the excess water outlay you are paying for.
TIP: First things to consider updating are a single flush toilet and high pressure tap fittings.
Don’t let the school holidays start before you consider getting a plumber out to quote replacing your existing fixtures and fittings. It’s important to also consider the added value to your property when you have completed your renovations. It’s a pretty win-win situation really. If you have been sitting on your hands, now’s the time to get proactive and call us to get your renovation started. There is still plenty of time to get your new loo fitted (link to renovation services page) pre Christmas!
Hot water system efficiency
Some people spend their summers balancing their air conditioning bill with savings they have made on their hot water heating bill. What if you didn’t have to worry about the latter? Hot water systems that keep a full tank of hot water often use cool water in the summer months to bring it back down to a temperature that suits. Changing your thermostat to a more appropriate temperature not only saves water, but power as well! Hooray!
Here are some other helpful tips on how to save energy on your hot water heating generally. Let’s reduce your power AND water usage, saving you money across the board!
Check on your usage
Read your meter! It seems simple enough, but most homeowners don’t even know where to look for their water meter. This isn’t a reason to panic – it’s normally located towards the street on your property in an easily accessible location toward the left. When you can get a gauge on what your usage actually is, you can find ways to cut down and measure your success!
This handy usage calculator is an excellent tool provided by Sydney Water to gain you some perspective.
Tip: Consider having water efficient taps and water aerators installed to minimise your water usage. Having these fit by a licensed plumber is the best way to ensure they are actually doing their best work to preserve water.
It is set to be one stinking hot summer so before the heat wave sets in, lets get a little proactive about preserving our environment, and helping out our wallets along the way. Think of all the holidays you can take your family on with the savings, and how good you will feel helping the planet out along the way.
Read further for more ways you can creatively save water around the home. This site has several great ideas to help get you started before booking in to have your local plumber take a look at ways you can save money this Sydney summer with a Sydney plumber.
