Energy efficient habits are always a good idea, and it's never been a bigger deal, so here's a guide to every day energy saving with a shorter shower.
Whether you want to keep your energy bills down, you're concerned about the planet, or both, using less hot water could make a big difference to your usage.
If you shower every day, that's seven opportunities a week to feel a lil' bit better about yourself.
Why should I make my showers more energy efficient?
The energy crisis brought energy bills to the top of everybody's list, and while energy prices are slowly coming down, saving energy to protect the environment is always important.
Energy costs are obvs a big deal, but energy efficiency is good for the planet too, which is important to remember in the midst of a climate crisis.
According to the Office of National Statistics:
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75% of UK adults care about the environment.
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86.5% have made changes to their lifestyle to reduce their impact on the environment.
Keeping an eye on your energy consumption is a great way to make sure you're doing your bit for the planet, and a shorter shower is a super easy way to do that.
So even if you have an Unlimited Energy package with Fused, watching your gas and electricity consumption means doing your bit for planet earth. If you're curious about the Unlimited Energy package thing, check out our student bills guide.
Save water, save energy
Heating water at home makes up about 5% of the UK's carbon emissions according to the Energy Saving Trust. And it's the biggest use of energy at home, after central heating.
Tons of things, like the washing machine and dish washer, use some energy to heat water, but the shower is by far the biggest culprit for most homes when it comes to racking up numbers on the smart meter.
So let's talk...SHORT SHOWER POWER.
How hot water racks up your energy usage
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18-24 year olds spend about 11.5 minutes in the shower on average according to YouGov.
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Every shower uses about 138 litres of hot water. Every drop of water needs to be heated, making it one of the big domestic energy eaters.
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Even for modern boilers, it takes a lot of energy to heat your shower so you don't end up showering in cold water.
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Different types of boiler, hot water heater or hot water tank, could use even more.
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Basically whether you have a gas boiler or electric water heater, making water hotter uses tons of energy so less hot water = big energy savings.
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To put the amount of water into perspective, for every shower you need to use enough energy to heat 138 big bottles of water.
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The exact amount of water and energy varies depending on your water pressure, shower head, and the type of shower you use, but it's always true that the less time you spend in the shower, the less water and energy you use.
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Most people shower every day, so if you're looking for a small, daily change to shrink your carbon footprint , a shorter shower time is the way to go.
Pro tip: Anything in your home that generates heat, like a tumble dryer, uses a lot of energy, even energy-efficient appliances need to use a lot of energy to generate heat. So keep an eye on your usage!
Here's how much energy the average Fused house could save with shorter shower time
Short Shower Power - The Numbers
Showering for 5 mins instead of 11.5:
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Cuts carbon emissions by about 60%
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Saves 78 litres of hot water
If all Fused customers embraced Short Shower Power, you'd save about 921,414 litres of hot water every day, you absolute legends.
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That's 336,316,110 litres of water a year
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Or 134 Olympic swimming pools
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Or enough liquid for more than 735 million grande lattes
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Or 4.5% of the water in Loch Ness. Turns out Loch Ness is pretty massive.**
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This is amazing news for your energy bills or your water meter, if you have one!
Then there's the carbon emissions you could cut. More carbon in the atmosphere means faster global warming. So how much carbon is saved by Short Shower Power?
Doing the 5-minute shower thing saves…
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308g of CO2 every shower
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1.2 kg of CO2 for the average FUSED household* every day and 438kg of CO2 for the average household every year, or 329kg every 9 months
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1.32 million kg of CO2 every year for ALL Fused households
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That’s enough to make more than 3.2 million cups of coffee
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Or to go to the moon and back 19 times!
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Want to save more energy?
Here ya go:
