One thing that affects many households is high energy bills. However, many people are left confused about what in their home could be causing their bills to skyrocket. While there are many possible causes, one thing most people don’t consider that often is their plumbing. However, issues relating to plumbing can certainly contribute to home’s energy inefficiency. Here are a few ways how.

1. It Is all About the Water Heater

According to South West Plumbing, the number one source of plumbing energy problems is a home’s water heater. In fact, if you aren’t careful, energy consumption by your home’s water heater could balloon up to a quarter of your home’s entire energy use. The water heater is in fact the second largest user of most homes’ electricity right after the air conditioning system.

With that in mind, the water heater is a likely culprit for high electricity bills in your home. So what can you do about it? The first choice is rather straight forward. You can lower the setting on the thermostat. It really doesn’t have to be higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Installing a water heater insulation blanket will also do a good job of helping it better retain heat and waste less energy. Third, you could install a more energy efficient water heater with the Energy Star label.

2. Protect Your Pipes

The second likely cause of a home’s plumbing system resulting in high energy bills is a lack of insulation around pipes. If pipes aren’t insulated, the hot water sent from your water heater to fixtures in your home will not remain at the same temperature. Instead, a good portion of that heat will escape to the surrounding air right through the pipes.

Installing insulation around those pipes made out of foam or rubber, however, will do a good job of helping your hot water stay hot as it moves from the water heater to your bathrooms and kitchen. Insulation is also needed for plenty of other good reasons too like preventing your pipes from freezing up during the winter.

3. Use Less Hot Water

Lastly, one way to cut down on your electricity bill is to use less hot water in general. Does every load you wash in your washing machine really need hot water? For many kinds of clothing, cold water will certainly suffice. There’s also no reason to use hot water when washing dishes or washing your hands. Taking shorter showers can go a long way too.

There’s a few different ways your plumbing can inflate your energy bills. However, if you make sure your water heater is running efficiently, your pipes are insulated and hot water isn’t wasted in your home, you can certainly bring your electricity bills down significantly.