Lately, I have started taking my daily shower in the dark. Actually, the light is off but I leave the door open and there is plenty of light from the bedroom windows to see. My thinking was that this would save a little bit of money. I haven’t done the exact calculation but after looking at a couple sites it looks like leaving the lights on in the bathroom all day would cost less than a dollar. Considering my shower takes 10 or 15 minutes it looks like I’m saving about one penny a day. I will still keep taking my shower in the dark though because I find that is actually very relaxing and there is no reason to waste even that little bit of electricity.
If I were to cut back on the length of my shower I could save more money. I found a web site that estimates the cost of a shower. My only cost for a shower is energy cost since water is included in rent. My cost for a ten minute shower is 32 cents and a ten minute shower is 47 cents. Five extra minutes for 15 cents seems like a good deal to me. Just because I’m not paying for the water doesn’t mean I should waste it though so I’m going to try to keep my showers to ten minutes. I don’t think that will really affect the quality of my shower. And I will look for some better ways to cut back on electrical use.
When I lived in Australia, the government actually sent out hour-glass timers to every resident, asking them to stick them on the wall of the shower and to stop showering when the sand runs out (which took four minutes). And amazingly, everyone I knew did this and it even led to ‘competitions’ among friends as to who used the least amount of water and energy and who spent the least on their monthly bills.
Even on each bill it had a chart showing your progress from month to month and how much you could save if you shortened your showers even more.
I thought it was quite a clever way to help save both energy and money…
That is a good idea. When I was a kid we used to have a five minute timer for the shower. It wasn’t to save water or electricity it was because with 4 kids showers had to be short or not everyone would have hot water.
I am thinking about using a 10 minute timer for my shower. Not too conservative but I really enjoy my showers.
I live in Australia and we still have to have 2 minute showers. But it’s the dryest continent on earth so that’s part of the deal of living here with too many people.
So when you say 15 minute showers, it’s kind of like tell ethiopians you throw out 5 pizza’s a week 🙂
Intersting shower fact. 1 minute of showering uses the same electricity as 10minutes of standing under heat lamps.
Wow. I’m a woman with long hair (past my waistline), I do not use shampoo but I use the “no-poo” method where I dump baking soda into a cup then water, and onto my hair, rinse and then vinegar into the same cup (rinsed) with more water, onto my hair and rinse, shave my underarms every few days… and my showers still take less than five minutes. We have to haul our own water out where I live, so it makes you extra cautious about water usage when you have to drive to the community well to fill up your underground tank.
Five minutes won’t cut it for me. Ten at best, more like 15.
But we feel no guilt. Landlord wants us to stay – we’ve offered to move, to pay more, he says “No.”
I can live without heat or gas, without lights, without internet, without tv, without a phone or car, no problem. But indoor plumbing, baths and hot showers, air conditioning and coffee – that’s where I draw the line!
Since we don’t pay for hot H2O, my nod to conservation was to seek out a showerhead that is actually usable at 2.5 gpm (and low pressure), no need to remove the restrictor. I found the $8 plastic “Aqua Massage” at our local True Value did the trick, while the $100 units Ms. Sam fancies just dribble.
I realize I am lucky to be able to take such long showers at a small cost and I do enjoy them. Since I’m conservative in other areas I don’t feel too bad about taking long showers.