10 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home Plumbing

There are a number of reasons why homeowners should be environmentally conscious. We get oxygen, food, and other fundamental needs from the environment. Hence it plays an important part in the household’s quality of life. The availability and quality of various environmental elements affect the entire family’s living system.

New and creative plumbing systems are emerging as the world works toward a greener planet. Being environmentally conscious has never been easy. With some tips, you can make your plumbing safe for the environment.

Using eco-friendly measures in your home is, of course, an effective way to save money and water. You may live a greener lifestyle by being mindful of your plumbing and usage. This article explains various eco-friendly plumbing options to make your house’s plumbing system eco-friendly.

Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home Plumbing

Importance of Eco-Friendly Plumbing

Sustainability is becoming more and more of a concern and with good cause. In addition to contributing to excessive carbon emissions and climate change, we are rapidly depleting resources such as energy, water, and other natural resources.

Water is the most important component of life, but just 1% of the water on our planet is available for human consumption. To overcome this problem, we must maintain a delicate balance, which is very tough.

Homeowners are always looking for methods to improve the sustainability of the property. Making the plumbing system eco-friendly is one such method. Not only does living in an eco-friendly home help the environment, but it can also help you save money.

10 Tips for Green Plumbing

1. Insulate Your Pipes

People generally leave the tap running for longer lengths of time when the water takes longer to warm up. Improving the insulation of your water pipes is one approach to reduce the time it takes for hot water to reach your bathroom or kitchen.

When water flows from the hot water heater to your faucet through insulated pipes, it loses less heat. Because your water heater won’t have to work as hard to deliver enough hot water, this minor tweak can save both water and electricity.

hot water guide

2. Protect Outdoor Valves

Turn off the valve that leads to your garden hose and search for additional measures to keep your pipes from freezing. When pipes freeze, they can quickly burst or become utterly worse than merely decreasing your overall water usage.

You can also overcome this problem by improving the quality of valves. This can be done by installing valves manufactured by a reputable China ball valve manufacturer.

Chemicals and other solutions that enter your plumbing system should also be considered. Whatever you put into your body has the potential to come into contact with groundwater. So, you should utilize natural products wherever possible. You should also turn off the water for the entire house if you’re going away for the holidays or for a longer amount of time.

3. Purchase Low Flow Plumbing Fixtures

Low-flow toilets, faucets, and other comparable goods are widely available and inexpensive nowadays. If you prefer to acquire a second opinion before making a purchase, most expert plumbers will be aware of the best possibilities.

Low-flow fixtures can help you save money on your water bill while also being sustainable and environmentally beneficial.

4. Use Eco-Friendly Water Treatment Products

You should never flush harsh chemicals or tough food waste, such as grease, down the toilet or drain. These chemicals come in direct contact with groundwater. This can have an adverse effect on your health and environment.

Use a magnetic filter to keep pipes clear or an environmentally friendly plumbing product recommended by a competent plumber to unclog a drain or treat your septic tank.

5. Incorporate Technology in Plumbing

Technology has made it simpler for homeowners to get the most out of their plumbing system while minimizing environmental impact. You can now install motion sensors or touchless faucets in your home. This technology can save you water and money by only turning on faucets when your hands are within a few inches of the faucet or the spout’s lip.

ecofriendly plumbing practices

6. Use Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters are energy-efficient equipment that also provides a new level of convenience. Tankless water heaters provide on-demand hot water and are significantly more compact than their predecessors.

Water rushes through the tankless system and is instantaneously heated by the electric or gas mechanism when you need hot water for washing your hands or cleaning dishes.

7. Upgrade Your Toilets

Installing dual-flush systems can save hundreds of dollars in water each year for homeowners. You could be flushing nearly three gallons of water every time you use the restroom if your toilet hasn’t been changed since the 1990s. A dual flush toilet can save a lot of water by having one flush for liquid waste and another for solid waste.

8. Clean the Drains

Drains are easily clogged by food, oil, fat, hair, and other similar materials. If not attended to by an experienced plumber, clogged drains can cause serious harm. Drain obstructions are one of the most common reasons for homeowners to hire a plumber. Check this article to know about health and safety considerations in plumbing work.

9. Get Regular Maintenance of House Plumbing System

Taking preventative actions on a regular basis can considerably extend the life of your plumbing system. A routine check once a year will save you a lot of money and time in the long run. Hire a skilled plumber to see growing difficulties and plumbing issues so you can address them before they become a problem and wastewater or cause other problems.

plumbing tips to save money

10. Look for Alternatives to Hot Water

A gas boiler upgrade or replacement can be costly. By looking at the fluctuating nature of energy prices and the emerging trend for using eco-friendly methods, investing in alternatives to gas boilers is a good idea to make your house’s plumbing system eco-friendly. You’ll not only lower the chance of carbon monoxide poisoning in your home, but you’ll also be future-proofing it.

Conclusion

Methods discussed in this article depict how small modifications in your house plumbing can make a big difference in how you care for the environment. This will not only make the process more sustainable and healthy but will also help you cut down various expenses involved in house water and plumbing management, besides increasing your home’s value.

The Future of Gas Boilers – Hydrogen or Heat Pumps?

Due to the international crisis of global warming, the majority of western countries are now set on a course to become carbon neutral and at the Paris Accord, they agreed to achieve this by 2050. This is an impressive feat for countries still so reliant on fossil fuels for major industries like heating and transport.

Residential heating is one area that is currently in the spotlight, for instance, in countries like the UK, it is currently responsible for around one-third of carbon emissions. As a result and understandingly it is set to undergo major reform over the next 10 years.

What’s the problem with current heating?

Heating in the UK is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, either directly or indirectly. For instance, the vast majority of homes are supplied with natural gas which is burned in fireplaces and gas combi boilers to provide homes with heat.

heating-radiator

The major issue is that burning natural gas releases carbon into the atmosphere, which is a gas that doesn’t leave the atmosphere, resulting in heat being trapped in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.

Therefore, the UK government is looking at low carbon heating alternatives as a route to transforming the current situation, which includes the likes of heat pump, hydrogen boiler and solar.

As Heatable states, residential boilers have already been under considerable scrutiny and the government has banned non-condensing boilers, driving up the efficiency of boilers to above 90%, as well as a total outlaw on all gas boilers in new homes from 2025.

Yet, it’s important to note that most industry commentators consider replacing gas boilers with solar and heat pumps completely unrealistic. Major concerns include their expensive and disruptive installation, as well as their reliability when compared to conventional boilers.

As a result, replacing the fuel is seen as a much more realistic approach with the fuel of choice being hydrogen. This can be fed into the current infrastructure and used with hydrogen-ready boilers, which are almost identical to current natural gas versions.

Hydrogen Boilers vs. Heat Pumps

There are many issues when it comes to the transition from high to low carbon heating technologies. So much so, that the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) estimated that it would take almost 1,000 years to make the switch if the current trajectories continued.

Even worse, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) highlighted that it would cost on average £26,000 for each home to install a low carbon heating alternative, rending the whole idea completely unviable.

hydrogen-boiler

The only sensible solution is the adoption of hydrogen fuel as an alternative to natural gas instead. This fuel is able to make use of the current gas networks infrastructure which is already connected to the vast majority of properties.

From an environmental standpoint, hydrogen is also seen as highly desirable.

Why? When hydrogen is burned it produces only vapour and absolutely no carbon dioxide making it ideal for a carbon-neutral future.

Disadvantages of Heat Pumps

As well as that, there are also other issues with heat pumps, of which there are three main types: air source, ground source and hybrid. All of which works by sucking in heat from the surrounding air, ground or water and are able to supply heat to water and central heating.

Hybrid heat pumps are different in that they utilise a boiler to provide supplemental heat if the weather becomes severely cold.

The good point of heat pumps is that they only use small amounts of electricity to operate and combined with the fact that they absorb heat from the environment, they are extremely efficient. In fact, they can achieve energy efficiency ratings exceeding 300%, compared to modern gas boilers that are around 94%.

However, it’s not all positive sadly and heat pumps are unable to provide the same, consistent heat output that gas boilers are able to. For this reason, they are usually installed with oversized radiators and/or underfloor heating and only in properties that are extremely well insulated.

Conclusion

Heating is without a doubt going to change and countries like the UK are going to transition away from gas boilers, but what will win – heat pumps or hydrogen?

It seems that hydrogen has the advantage from a feasibility standpoint, but there’s little doubt that heat pumps will be part of the mix too.

It’s becoming more common for gas boilers to be installed with a hybrid heat pump system.

The first homes fitted with hydrogen boilers and appliances are going to be installed in Fife, Scotland from next year, so progression is certainly accelerating.

Recommended Reading: Benefits of Regular Boiler Maintenance