This first quarter of the year is supposed to be devoted to tips on home energy savings, but it would not be complete without talking about water.  Saving water also saves energy, especially if you are talking about saving hot water, because it takes energy to make it hot. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, water heating can account for 14% to 25% of the energy consumed in your home.

1. The first, easiest, cheapest thing to do is to install low-flow aerators in all faucets.  I did this last year, and it took me about 15 minutes to do 5 sinks.  The only tool I needed was a wrench.  What does an aerator do?  Most faucets have a flow rate of about 2.2 gallons per minute, and an aerator will take it down to 1.5 gallons per minute.  It does this by mixing more air in with the water, so you can’t tell the difference in water pressure.  Assuming a faucet is used for 10 minutes per day (teeth brushing, hand washing, shaving), that saves 7 gallons per day — over 2,500 gallons per year — which can really add up over time, both in cost savings and fresh water savings.  Faucet aerators cost between $3 and $20 each, and some utility companies even offer them for free.  Amazon sells an aerator that takes the flow rate down to 0.5 gallons per minute for under $5.  Depending on how much water you use, the financial payback makes it a no-brainer.
2. Installing low-flow shower heads are the next easy, inexpensive thing to do.  And since most showers are hot, it’s an energy savings as well: less water to heat.  If you have an old shower head, it can easily use up to 4 gallons per minute; low flow shower heads bring that down to 1.5 gallons per minute — saving families up to 8,000 gallons per year. Some of the newer technology can actually make it feel like there is more water pressure, so there is no sacrifice in the loveliness of a shower.  And for those who have small hot water tanks, it will definitely extend the number of of people who can shower right after one another without running out of hot water!
3. Finally, if you are replacing a toilet, get a dual-flush one.  They are not more expensive than the regular toilets, and they save at least a half a gallon per flush.   There are also dual-flush conversion kits available from Amazon, but I haven’t done this myself so I don’t know how hard they are or how well they work.  Take a look at your toilet to see how many gallons it uses per flush — it may be worth your while to investigate further!