What if we told you that a secret money drain is hiding in plain sight inside your home? It’s not a leaky window or a drafty door. It’s your plumbing!
The toilets, showerheads, and faucets you use every day could be secretly wasting water and driving up your monthly bills. Fortunately, this is a super easy problem to fix. Replacing your old, thirsty fixtures with new, high-efficiency ones is one of the smartest and simplest upgrades you can make.
Cabinet Discounters is here to break down exactly how these new fixtures work and how they can put hundreds of dollars back in your pocket each year.
How New Plumbing Fixtures Can Save You Money
1. Your Toilet: The Biggest Water Waster in Your House
Let’s start with the fixture that uses the most water: your toilet. If your toilet is more than 20-25 years old, it’s basically a water hog. Older models can use a staggering 3.5 to 7 gallons of water for every single flush!
Now, compare that to modern toilets. By law, new toilets must use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. That’s less than half the water for the same job! But the technology has gotten even better. Many new models are High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs) that use just 1.28 gallons per flush, and some even have dual-flush options.
What does this mean for your wallet?
Let’s do the math. A family of four flushes the toilet about 20 times a day. With an old toilet using 5 gallons per flush, that’s 100 gallons a day just for flushing. Switching to a 1.28-gallon model cuts that down to just 25.6 gallons a day. That’s a savings of over 74 gallons a day, which adds up to over 27,000 gallons of water saved in a single year. When you see that reflected on your water and sewer bill, the savings are huge.
2. Your Showerhead: Your Personal Money-Saving Spa
After a long day, a nice, powerful shower feels great. But many older showerheads are like having a firehose on your wall, blasting out 2.5 gallons of water every minute. A 10-minute shower would use 25 gallons of water!
New, low-flow showerheads are engineering marvels. They are designed to use 2.0 gallons per minute (GPM) or less, without you feeling like you’re standing under a dribble. They do this by mixing air with the water, creating a strong, invigorating spray that actually feels great while using much less water.
The savings add up fast.
Switching from a 2.5 GPM showerhead to a 2.0 GPM model saves 5 gallons in a 10-minute shower. For a family of four, that’s 20 gallons saved every single day. Plus, you’re also saving money on the energy required to heat all that extra water. It’s a double win for your budget!
3. Your Faucets: Small Changes, Big Savings
You might not think about it, but the kitchen and bathroom faucets are constantly in use. An old faucet can use more than 2.2 gallons per minute, and that steady stream of wasted water really adds up.
You have two great options to fix this:
- Option 1: Replace the Entire Faucet. This is the best choice if your faucet is also outdated, leaky, or just ugly. A new low-flow faucet will typically use only 1.5 gallons per minute, giving you immediate savings with a stylish upgrade.
- Option 2: Install an Aerator. This is one of the best home improvement secrets! An aerator is a small device that screws onto the end of your existing faucet. It costs just a few dollars at any hardware store and can cut your faucet’s water flow down to 1.5 GPM or even 0.5 GPM for bathroom models. It works by mixing air into the water stream, so it still feels strong and splashes less. If you’re on a tight budget, this is the #1 thing you can do to start saving money today.
4. Free Money? Learn About Rebates!
Who doesn’t love free money? To encourage homeowners to save water, many local and state governments, and even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), often offer rebate programs.
This means that if you decide to install a certified WaterSense toilet, showerhead, or faucet, you might get a check in the mail from your water provider or a direct discount on the product. These rebates can sometimes cover a significant portion of the cost, making your upgrade even more affordable.
The rules and available rebates change often. It’s important to check the EPA’s WaterSense website or your local water company’s website (like WSSC Water for many in our Olney, MD area) to see what money-saving offers are available right now.
Ready to Stop Flushing Your Money Down the Drain?
As you can see, those small drips and steady streams of wasted water from old fixtures can create a giant hole in your wallet. Upgrading to efficient, modern plumbing is a simple and incredibly effective way to lower your bills, conserve a precious resource, and even update the look of your home.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. The team at Cabinet Discounters is here to help you choose the right fixtures for your home and budget. We handle the professional installation to ensure everything works perfectly.
Visit one of our showrooms to see the latest water-saving fixtures in person. Schedule a free consultation online to discuss your project and get a personalized estimate. Call us directly at 1-800-THE-DREAM to talk to one of our plumbing experts. Take control of your utility bills today. A few small changes can lead to very big savings!