Green Improvements for Your Kitchen and Bath

If you are thinking of remodeling your kitchen or bath, or even just making some smaller home improvement to your kitchen or your bathroom, why not go green with your improvements?

No more slow hot water

For instance, if you are about to replace the fixtures at your kitchen sink, it would be a perfect time to add a green hot water demand system as well. Newer fixtures often have slower flow rates than the older ones being replaced. The lower flow will cause slow hot water. To improve the slow hot water problem you add the demand system.

The hot water demand system will speed hot water to your new fixtures more quickly than if you just let the water run. While you are waiting you are not running water down the drain. The demand system sends the cooled off hot water left in the pipes from your last hot water usage back to the water heater through the cold water pipes.

The demand hot water system consists of a small pump that can be placed under the sink where you want instant hot water, and it connects with hoses just like the supply hoses typically used for fixtures, to your hot and cold water fixture connections. You will save thousands of gallons of water per year.

Many of the higher end new homes are installing multiple head showers which require larger diameter piping for the hot water. Larger pipes hold more water so the amount of water you must purge from your hot water pipes to get hot water to the fixtures is substantially larger. This equates to significantly increased wastage of water and potentially much slower hot water.

Again, a hot water demand system is more than warranted. If your plumbing layout permits, a single hot water demand system can provide instant hot water at both the bath fixtures and the kitchen fixtures. A very green home improvement project.

Tankless Water Heaters

If you are one of those people intending on getting one of those multi-head showers or huge spa type bathtub, you might consider installing a tankless water heater. Since with a tankless water heater you never run out of hot water you can take some time to enjoy that splendid shower experience for more than two minutes.

Tankless water heaters are green in that they are more efficient than tank type water heaters and can save you money by saving energy to heat the water. They do not have the 24 hour a day standby losses than normal tank type water heaters are afflicted with.

Tankless heaters take a little longer to deliver the hot water to those new fancy showers or gorgeous new kitchen fixtures since it has to start with cold water whereas a storage type heater with a tank already has hot water waiting to go.

Once again, a hot water demand system comes to the rescue. It speeds up the delivery of hot water and saves water, time, energy, and money.

For your green home improvements to your bath and or your kitchen, you might consider both the tankless water heater and a hot water demand system. Instant hot water when you turn on the spigot, thousands of gallons of water saved from going down the drain, and reduced energy bills. You will also be helping reduce your carbon footprint!