Winterize your water pipes!     

Conservation benefits the community at large. Heating and cooling is where electricity works hardest and paying attention to these areas will lower your energy use; insulating walls, ceilings, water pipes, heating/cooling duct work and crawl spaces is one of the easiest, least expensive and most effective conservation measures available. More...

Your Water Heater

• Reduce your water heater setting to 120 degrees - 130 degrees to 140 degrees in homes with automatic dishwashers. Be safe: shut off power to the water heater before making any adjustments. Quick recovery water heaters have two thermostats and they both should be set at the same level.

• Maintain your water heater. Flush a bucket or two from the bottom of the tank at least once or twice a year. Sediment build-up reduces efficiency.

• Install energy-efficient low-flow showerheads.

• Insulate your water heater, especially if it is in an unheated location. Wrap it with an insulation blanket unless it is a super-efficient tank that already includes an extra thick wall of insulation.

• Wrap hot water pipes with insulation.

• Fix that drip…..leaky faucets can waste 2,300 gallons of water per year -- and the electricity needed to heat it.

• Check hot water pipes in crawl spaces for leaks and repair them.

• Take quick showers instead of baths.

• DON”T let the hot water tap run continually.

Frozen water pipes

• If a pipe is frozen but has not burst, turn off the water supply to that pipe and use a portable room heater to heat the area around the pipe. 

• When the blockage melts, turn the water back on and keep it running through faucets at a trickle to keep the pipes clear until the cold weather subsides. 

• If the pipe bursts, shut of the main water supply valve and call a plumber.