According to the U.S. Department of Energy adding insulation to your hot water heater can reduce your heat losses by 25% - 45%. If your tank is rated at an R value of under 24, your hot water heater is probably not working efficiently. If you don’t know what your tank’s R value is, touch it. If it is warm/ hot to the touch your tank needs additional insulation.

A “blanket” for your heater runs between $10 and $30. You can buy one at most home improvement stores and they are easy to install. If you aren’t sure about doing it yourself, the Department of Energy has some helpful diagrams to walk you through the process.

It is estimated that insulating your tank will save you between 4%-9% in water heating costs. I think that is a bit low for homes where the water heater is in an unheated part of the house. When we insulated our tank, which was located in the garage, next to the garage door, we saved about 20%.

Another way to save money on water heating is to install a timer on your water tank. These cost about $60 and will pay for themselves in about a year. Timers are not as effective on gas heaters because of the pilot light. Timers are great for families who are gone for most of the day and do not want to pay to heat water that no one is going to use. DIY has a tutorial on how to install your own timer here.

Of course you can really save money in the long run buy installing a tankless water heater. You can read more about these here.

Remember if you are going out of town for the weekend, or for the week, turn your heater to the lowest setting. There is no point in paying to heat water you will not use!

For more frugal tips visit Frugal Fridays.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites