One of the greatest ways you can save electricity in the bathroom is to remember to turn off the light when you leave!
Lights
Get Energy Saving Light Bulbs
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Get an energy-efficient night light! Replace your incandescent bulbs (the kind we've all used for decades) with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs or better yet, LEDs offer even more energy efficiency.
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CFL bulbs use as much as 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs while providing the same amount of light, and they can last up to 10 times longer.
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For example, a 13-watt CFL replacing a 60-watt incandescent will save about 470 kWh over its lifetime. At $0.14 per kWh, you would save $65.80 with a single light bulb—and remove over 600 lbs of carbon from the Texas environment.*
*Based on 1.35 lbs/CO2 per 1kWh. Source: US EPA 2005 Texas emissions data.
Beauty Products
Hair dryers, curling irons and hot rollers use more electricity than you might think. Blow dryers use between 1,200 to 1,875 watts, depending on the heat setting.*
Go Shorter
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The secret to saving electricity with hair-styling devices is to use them for shorter periods of time. That may seem like a no-brainer, but think about how often you leave styling devices on longer than you need to. Minimize your warm-up time for curling irons and hot rollers and turn them off as soon as you're done using them.
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Use lower heat settings.
*Source: ENERGY STAR dated 6/19/08
Hot Water
While your hot water heater isn’t usually located in your bathroom, a lot of hot water is used there. Electric water heaters account for around 14-25 percent of a family’s energy consumption, according to the Department of Energy.*
Use Less Water
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Repair all leaky faucets. A single leak can waste gallons of water. If it's a hot water faucet, you're also wasting energy heating water that's going down the drain.
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A five-minute shower using a flow restrictor in the showerhead uses less hot water and energy than a bath. These days, modern water saving showerheads have water pressure as good as the less eco-friendly models.
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To save energy, don't set water heaters above 120° F.
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Collect the water that flows while you're adjusting your shower temperature and use it for watering plants.
* Source: Department of Energy - Water Heating