Creating An Eco-Friendly Bathroom

A lot of people say that charity starts at home; well so does energy efficiency. We have recently seen a controversial method of extracting natural gas from rocks, known as fracking, given the green light to continue and who knows what else 2013 might hold in the way of developing more energy efficient ways to live our lives.

Luckily though, you don’t have to go to those sorts of lengths to do your bit for the environment as there are plenty of measures you can take from the comfort of your own home. The bathroom is one room in the house that often gets left out when it comes to home improvement but it is a great place to start when wanting to save money and the environment. Here are just a few ways you can create a green bathroom without painting the walls turquoise.

A Light Shower

Every year gallons of water are wasted just through taking long showers and leaving the taps running in the sink whilst cleaning your teeth. The best way to save water in the bathroom is to take baths instead of showers because they use less and you can still take as long as you like in them. Alternatively, if you are a shower person through and through, try cutting down on the time you spend in there.

There is a clever device called the Shower Pebble which can be placed next to the plug hole and will help you to slowly reduce the time you spend in the shower. It will remember how long your previous shower was and then warn you 30 second earlier the next time by flashing a series of green, yellow and red lights.

Staying Warm

In the winter, lots of people crank their radiators up to full in an attempt to stay warm. This is largely because with most radiators there is not much more scale than low, medium or high. However, if you were to install a thermostatic radiator valve then your radiator could be both more efficient and easier to control. In smaller rooms, such as a bathroom, a radiator rarely needs to be on high to warm the whole room and so lots of energy is wasted as the radiator pumps out excessive heat.

The valve will only allow enough water through to allow the radiator to heat up to your desired temperature, thus saving energy that would otherwise be wasted. The temperature can easily be set by using the gauge on the valve and the radiator will then keep the climate at a constant level.

Feeling Flushed

Over 30% of the water that we use on a daily basis is flushed away in our toilets. You will be pleased to hear that changing this can be done very simply and without spending too much many. One option is to put a plastic bottle with a little bit of sand in it inside your toilet cistern so that there is the same amount of water in it but it is at a higher level. This way less water will be flushed away with each pull of the chain.

Alternatively, you could install a duel flush system by which you can choose whether you want to use a bug flush or a small one. Either way, they will both use less water than a traditional toilet would.

Chris Mayhew writes here on behalf of West Radiators. A thermostatic radiator valve from them could save you a lot of money on your energy bills and save the environment in the process.