In this time of financial and economic turmoil every penny counts. So here are my tried-and-true tips on how you can save electricity with your shower and bath.
Take Navy Showers
A “Navy shower“ is called so because on military ships there is always a lack of fresh water, and to conserve it, sailors to this day often use a water and energy-conserving showering routine, which comes down to turning water on to wet the body, then turning it off while soaping up and scrubbing (or applying shampoo), then turning the water on again to wash the soap and shampoo off.
If you have an electric shower, it often consumes 8+ kW of power, which is necessary to heat the fast flowing water very quickly. But this also means that it really burns your electricity up like there’s no tomorrow. I can imagine an electric shower being one of the top electricity consumers in a home. So when showering, consider turning the tap off while you are soaping up. You’ll conserve water as well.
Take Showers at Night / Early Morning
If your electricity meter supports two or three tariffs, you may want to postpone your shower till night, and take your morning shower as early as you can, to fit in the time span when your electricity is the cheapest. If you follow this routine every day, you’ll soon notice your electricity bill going down.
By the way, this also works with your washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher. Provided you don’t live in a flat or have good neighbours that can take the noise.
Program Your Water Heater to Work at Night
If your water heater has a programmable timer, set it to turn on at around 7-8 PM (to provide hot water for bath and other hygienic activities in the evening) and to turn off at the time you get up for work. You can easily survive without hot water (or with the remaining warm water) during the day, even if you stay at home. And if your electricity comes with a cheaper night-time tariff, you’ll save even more.
Develop a Showering Routine
Many people, including myself, say they like to take long relaxing showers which help them to think of new ideas or just break from the daily rush. However, these days one has to save wherever possible. So the quicker you shower, the less electricity and water you spend.
Over time you can develop a routine that your muscles will remember, and after a while you will notice that you don’t have to think what to do next. At that stage you’ll be able to give your brain some rest, while your body is washing itself. Just try to keep the order of your movements more or less the same for a week or two. You can use an egg timer to guide you.
But of course if the ideas you get while showering are of life-changing nature (how to get really rich quickly, for example), then by all means take your time.
