Unless you’ve been living on another planet, it’s obvious that saving water and energy at home is essential. With rising costs and depleting reserves, its not only necessary to prevent loss of water, heat, and electricity for the sake of the environment, but also our bank accounts.

If you play your cards right and stay thrifty and savvy, you’ll discover how simple it is to use less water and energy in the bathroom. So, how can this be done in your household? We’ll provide some great tips for bathrooms that anyone can follow.

Be careful with toilet flushing

It’s estimated that modern toilet cisterns use roughly 7-8 litres of water per flush, which is far too much when you stop and think about things. That’s why it’s installing a dual flush toilet system – this technology can reduce the water consumption to as low as three litres per flush.

Furthermore, try not to use your toilet as another rubbish bin! Many things such as feminine hygiene products and contraceptive items are not designed to be flushed into the sewers, not to mention the incredible water waste every time you flush. Throw such items into the bin, as well as tissues after blowing your nose, as this is far simpler and saves a lot of water.

Watch the water consumption when showering

Although there’s nothing quite like a long bath to relax after a hard day, baths use an awful lot of water. Showers are much faster and use less water, but you can also save much more H20 by turning it off when you’re applying soap and shampoo.

A 10-minute shower uses roughly 12 litres of water per minute, so every second not in use will help! You can set an alarm on your smartphone to ensure you know when it’s time to turn off the shower.

Top tip: Placea bucket underneath the shower while you’re waiting for the water to heat up. You can use the excess liquid for tasks like washing dishes or watering the plants.

It sounds obvious, but also don’t let the tap run while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving, it’s easy enough to turn the tap back on once you’re finished! Be sure to only use the cold-water tap, as it takes a lot of energy to warm up water and this isn’t necessary for shaving or brushing teeth. Heating up water uses roughly 12% of a household’s energy bill!

Don’t ignore leaking taps, either, as this wastes hundreds of litres of water per day and costs you far more on your water bill. It’s cheaper to fix the tap than letting it drip all day.

Smaller but still notable advice

If you install energy-efficient light bulbs such as LED lights (which can save around £70 per year), you’ll find that the room is still brightly lit without draining so much electricity. Furthermore, connecting your bathroom lights to a motion sensor or time is a great idea as we can often leave the lights on by accident – which is especially worse if this happens when you leave for holiday.

Lastly, it’s good to consider underfloor heating in the bathroom, as it keeps the room heated for much longer and you don’t have the problem of dusty radiators. Some homeowners dislike underfloor heating because of the installation fuss and costs, but you’ll find this method of heating the bathroom better in the long run.