Installing a Water Heater Insulation Blanket Via Flickr - greenforall.org

The cold that many of us are facing these days has us turning inwards, sipping tea, wearing more layers, and huddling under blankets to stay warm. Hopefully you’ve already taken a look at your heating system to determine how efficient it is so that you’re saving on your monthly energy bills (be they electric, natural gas, pellets, wood, or heating oil).

But many of us also like to warm up by taking a nice long, hot bath or standing for a few extra minutes under the shower. And so here’s another place you can save energy during the cold months. Water heaters are responsible for a relatively large portion of our monthly utility bills, accounting for up to 25% of your average monthly bill! That’s a good chunk of energy, and provides a lot of room for improvement.

According to the US Department of Energy, adding an insulation blanket to your water heater can help to reduce your water-heating related energy costs by as much as 9%. An insulation blanket that you wrap around your water heater can save you around $15 every year in energy bills. These jackets (which are often pre-cut to fit water heaters), cost between $10 and $20 and are very easy to install, so they’re one of the simplest and cheapest things you can do to reduce your energy use. US DOE’s Energy Savers site has a guide to installing an insulation blanket to make it dead simple.

Another really, really simple (and free!) way to reduce your monthly water heating bill is to lower the temperature on your hot water tank from 140ºF to 120ºF or lower. Not only does this reduce the amount of energy you use to keep your water warm without sacrificing comfort, it cuts the mineral build-up in your hot water tank, lengthening its life and cutting your long-term costs, too.

Water Heater Insulation Blanket