Our Top Five Plumbing Tips To Help You Save Money
Here’s our top 5 plumbing tips. It can often be the case that when we need to save money, we end up spending it instead.
That’s why we’ve put together these five plumbing hacks that might help you to save some pennies, and even some pounds. After-all as the saying goes, if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves!
#1 FIX LEAKING TAPS
Whilst it may seem like a small thing – a leaking tap can have quite a significant impact.
Direct Line Home Insurance* revealed in 2018 that ‘For every leaky tap Brits lose on average 25 litres of water, the same as running a dishwasher. In fact, 460 million litres of water is lost through dripping taps each year in the UK alone, enough to fill 184 Olympic-sized swimming pools.’
As if that’s not enough impact on its own, there could end up being a significant financial and health cost too. Leaving a leaky tap can cause mould that is damaging to health and there is a cost for every single drip. Fixing a tap could save you as much as 10% off your water bill per year.
Replacing worn and damaged parts might seem expensive at the time but the long-term implications of not replacing them far outweigh these. Sometimes though it’s a simple as changing a washer – quite an easy job that you can do by following an online tutorial.
#2 REPAIR AND RETAIN BEFORE REPLACE
Whilst we would never seek to tell you what to do with your money, nor how to spend it (so to speak), we want to help guide you to prevent you spending unnecessarily.
If you didn’t know that there was an alternative to replacing your sink, bathroom or kitchen item, then hopefully this will help.
A split in your sink or toilet can be quite disruptive and cause difficulties if not dealt with quickly, however, with the right knowledge repairing and retaining might be a better option.
For example
Our customer Mr Green has a sink with a large crack in it as he dropped a glass in it. It is ugly and Mr Green is worried that it might start leaking. The sink is a porcelain sink overlay with cast iron underneath. Mr Green has asked his plumber to replace the sink.
His plumber feels that there might be a better alternative to removing the whole sink and replacing it. There are a number of repair kits that can help restore a sink to its former glory, without having to replace it with a brand new one. This can also be applied to toilets – depending on where the split or damage has occurred.
We would always say if in doubt, ask as your local friendly plumber for help, they will be able to advise you the best course of action.
#3 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DEGREE CAN MAKE
We’re sure it’ll come as no surprise that we have suggested turning down your thermostat. It’s not a new concept but one that is so easy to do, that it can easily be overlooked and forgotten.
Especially as we are now (hopefully) moving towards warmer weather and the nights are not quite as chilly. Not putting your heating up quite so high or readjusting your settings for the morning and evening boost, down by a degree or two, can make a difference. Not only does it save on your heating bills but you are also helping in the fight against climate change. A win-win in everyone’s books.
#4 TAKE A SHOWER RATHER THAN A BATH…
Whilst this may seem a no brainer, as filling a bath uses around 70 litres of water whereas an average shower uses 25 litres, your shower may not be as eco-friendly as you first thought.
A power shower can use more water than a bath, particularly, if you use it for 20 minutes or more.
Don’t worry though there is an easy fix, you can simply swap the shower head. Installing an aerating shower head will give you the feel of a power shower, whilst helping you save money and once again help in the fight against climate change. Yet another win-win.
#5 INVEST IN SOME SMART TECHNOLOGY
It’s always nice to return home to a warm house, especially in Winter. Setting your thermostat to come on an hour before you are due home seems a smart thing to do.
However, traffic is always unpredictable and you never know what time you’ll get back or you want to do something spontaneous or different things each night, which means you come home at different times?
Rather than heating your home for hours on a set timer heating, which can mean heating an empty home and wasting energy, you could invest in some smart technology that lets you control it remotely from your phone.
That way you can adjust the timer accordingly. If you set off half an hour later than planned or want to pop to the supermarket on the way home, you can just adjust it and ensure that you aren’t wasting money, but you’ll always come home to a warm welcome.
These are of course just a few ways to help you save. Sometimes though we just need an expert’s opinion. In this case, if you need someone to help you with your plumbing and heating, we’d be happy to help. We work with commercial, industrial, landlords and residential property owners.
We pride ourselves on offering a first-class professional service to all clients. We cover the following areas: Barnsley, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Dronfield, Mansfield, Rotherham Sheffield and Wath-upon-Dearne.
So, if in doubt, give us a shout. Bradley Plumbing and Heating, always happy to help or contact us here.
*Direct Line source: https://www.directline.com/media/archive-2018/leaky-britain
