Are you footing the bill for others laundry inefficiencies? Solution!

[DDrake]

I have roommates who seemingly are running a laundry mat out of my basement.  I tried reasoning with them that every cycle of laundry does not need to be on the "super size" setting or perhaps clothes could be worn more before washing.   Failed. 

So I figured I could doop the laundry machine to use less water.   I had no idea how easy it would be.  On my run of the mill maytag washing machine, I pulled off cover over the back of the control panel and right there in your face  is a screw to adjust the water level for each setting. If you pull off the cover on your panel it should be pretty obvious if it is adjustable. Now super = medium load level.   

The results.  6 months and two water bills later.

1. No noticeable difference in the quality of the washing.
2. They still dont have a clue.
3. Turning a screw on the back of the washing machine saved 4,000 gallons of water per quarter for a total savings so far of 8,000 gallons!@$#!

Incredible.

[justajane]

Awesome hack! Now if only you could figure out how to keep the thermostat on "72" when it is actually "68" or below. That was my struggle when I had roommates.

[LudicrousSpeed]

Ha! That. Is. Fantastic.

[Dr. A]

Awesome hack! Now if only you could figure out how to keep the thermostat on "72" when it is actually "68" or below. That was my struggle when I had roommates.

A lot of thermostats can do exactly this. The one in my apartment can be set to read up to 3 degrees higher or lower than the actual temperature.

[Kevan]

The water rates in my town, Memphis, are $1.50/Ccf.  Ccf is 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons.  That comes out to two-tenths of a cent per gallon.

8,000 x .002 = $16.00

[homehandymum]

The water rates in my town, Memphis, are $1.50/Ccf.  Ccf is 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons.  That comes out to two-tenths of a cent per gallon.

8,000 x .002 = $16.00

two-tenths is 0.02, so that = $160

Worth it.

Nevermind :)

[deborah]

$160 in 4 months = $480 a year - who pays the water bill?

[DDrake]

Unfortunately I pay the bill, and my reduction in usage matched exactly with a hike in rates, so my bill washed out, but Better than paying more, and better to use less.  A win either way.

I should try the bricks in the toilet plan, maybe I can knock off a 1000 gallons more...   

It really seems obscene how much water we consume....

Anyways, highly recommend the washing machine adjustment. Works great, and no one is the wiser.  Even if I rented I think I would do it, for the betterment of society.

Cheers,
Dan

[taekvideo]

Be wary of using an actual brick, I heard the sediment can damage the toilet

[Dicey]

Awesome hack! Now if only you could figure out how to keep the thermostat on "72" when it is actually "68" or below. That was my struggle when I had roommates.

A lot of thermostats can do exactly this. The one in my apartment can be set to read up to 3 degrees higher or lower than the actual temperature.

This is awesome. I just hope my husband never figures this out, as I'm the one who doesn't like to be cold. I'd rather forgo A/C all summer than freeze* in winter.
*Yeah, I live in CA. I readily admit, I'm a wuss where cold is concerned.

[Gone Fishing]

I turned the hot water valve off after pulling out lots of warm wet clothes.  The boss has not noticed...

[Kevan]

$160 in 4 months = $480 a year - who pays the water bill?

The OP stated a reduction of 8,000 gallons over six months' time.  The price of that water (in my locale) would be $16, not $160.  Two-tenths of a cent is properly written as .002, not .02.

There's more to it, though.  Our utility company also charges another .002 for sewage on the theory that, if you use a gallon, then they have to dispose of a gallon (which is false on its face).  So the price really doubles to $32 over six months, or $5.33 per month or $1.23/week.

[Bob W]

Yes, turn the hot water knob off as well.

And,  Consider sneaking in low flow shower heads.  There are some nice ones for like 10 that have a spinning thing on them to accelerate the water.   

Washers are the number one user of water and clothes actually get cleaner (theirs probably aren't even dirty?) with a smaller amount of water to clothes ratio.

You can also turn down the hot water thermostat to the setting that allows hot water (to your liking) out without mixing in cold.

Also wrap your hot water heater with R13 insulation using duct tape to secure it.

I'm guessing they are heavy towel users.  Don't know if it is possible but when my teen daughter would use 3 towels per shower,  I would scoop them up and throw them in the dryer.  Fold them neatly and put them in the towel closet.  You can do this 10+ times easily.  She and mom never ever noticed. 

[Chranstronaut]

Washers are the number one user of water and clothes actually get cleaner (theirs probably aren't even dirty?) with a smaller amount of water to clothes ratio.

This is such an important thing to understand about most products/systems: they were designed to work under certain conditions for maximum efficiency.  More =/ better, just like putting premium gas in a car that needs regular doesn't make it better.

... my teen daughter would use 3 towels per shower...

Geez, dad, don't you know that you need a washcloth to wash your face, a hand towel to dry your hands after getting them wet when you washed you face, a towel to tie up your hair, a towel for your body and a towel to throw around your neck while you pretend to give interviews into your microphone hairbrush after beating Serena Williams at Wimbledon?  Oh my god, dad, I can't even.

Source: was teenage girl.

[DDrake]

Good idea to turn off the hot water. I am going to put that in practice immediately.

I think I will experiment with lower the water level even more to see what happens as well....

[bzzzt]

Awesome hack! Now if only you could figure out how to keep the thermostat on "72" when it is actually "68" or below. That was my struggle when I had roommates.

If you still have an old school dial thermostat, you can take the beauty ring off, loosen the screws and tilt the thermostat a degree or three. The holes are slotted to compensate for sloppy installers, but the benefit is that you can change the point where the mercury makes/breaks contact.

Most homeowners have a programmable 'stat, but some landlords don't upgrade because they don't pay the utilities.

[I'm a red panda]

The water in our town is ridiculously expensive- so good job!

Sadly, we use either 1 or 2 "units" of water each billing cycle, so for the most part, there is nothing we can do to lower the bill. They won't bill below 1 unit.


We DID however manage to undo the water temperature regulator on our shower. The builder had installed some safety feature, which meant that the water wasn't super hot when the knob was all the way to the hot side. But what it really did was mean that it took forever for our water to heat up.  Now, when we turn it to hot, we get the hot water. Since we don't keep our water heater super high, we didn't also need a regulator on the faucet!

[MoneyRx]

$160 in 4 months = $480 a year - who pays the water bill?

The OP stated a reduction of 8,000 gallons over six months' time.  The price of that water (in my locale) would be $16, not $160.  Two-tenths of a cent is properly written as .002, not .02.

Yes, +1 for math

[DDrake]

9 Months and the usage reduction has held.  Still no gripes about the quality of the output.

Also noteworthy, I was gone for 30 days during this quarter and the water use was unaffected....

[clarkfan1979]

I no longer live in San Diego. However, if I did, I would be very interested in ways to save water.