While your plumbing may be fully functional, it may also be outdated. You may be losing money by wasting water every time you turn on a faucet or flush your toilet, or your drinking water may be tainted with lead or other possible contaminants.
There are also many improvements that can be performed simply to make your life more enjoyable and convenient. A little bit of luxury and ease never hurt anyone. Here are a few ideas.
Plumbing Upgrades for Saving Money
Low flow is the name of the game when upgrading plumbing fixtures. According to the EPA
, your toilets can account for 30 percent of your daily water use, and some older toilets can use as much as six gallons of water for each flush. If you have an older toilet, you may be acutely aware of the time required to refill the tank for a second flush.
Current federal requirements mandate only 1.6 gallons per flush, but some new toilets can use even less water. If you have a large family, this can result in substantial savings on your water bill.
Low-flow faucets can also save money, reducing the flow of water from 2.2 gallons per minute (the standard flow rate) to a maximum of 1.5 gallons per minute. The faucet is designed so you don't even notice the difference. Replacing your showerhead with a low flow model can also result in similar savings.
Plumbing Upgrades for Health and Wellness
If your toilet bowl or shower stall is often stained with a light brown hue, it is likely that you have older galvanized steel supply pipes that are rusting away. The pipes themselves may look pristine from the outside but are slowly being filled with accumulated corrosion.
You drink this contaminant from your faucets and your hair and skin are bombarded with it from your showerhead. You may also be burdened with low water pressure as the supply lines are gradually choked shut.
This corrosion will also accumulate in fixtures and components such as showerheads and toilet tank fill valves, as well as appliances such as coffee makers and humidifiers, reducing efficiency and often requiring replacement of the corrupted component or appliance.
If you have copper plumbing that was installed or upgraded before 1986, it's possible that your drinking water is contaminated with lead, because lead was used in pipe solder before leaded solder was banned by the Safe Water Drinking Act in 1986. Ingestion of lead can result in irreversible physical, psychological and neurological damage, especially in children.
Both galvanized and copper supply lines can be replaced with CPVC pipe, which is more economical, is impervious to corrosion and rust, and carries no risk of lead contamination.
Plumbing Upgrades for Pleasure and Ease
You use your plumbing every day, so any upgrade that can make your life easier can provide benefits. If you or other occupants of your home have mobility issues or are just getting a little creaky in the knees, you may want to consider having your toilets replaced with high-profile models.
These modified toilets are slightly taller than conventional models. This slight elevation can make a big difference how accessible the toilet is.
You may also benefit from an upgrade to a walk-in tub instead of climbing over the rim of your standard tub, which can be hazardous for those with mobility issues because of the increased possibility of falls on wet surfaces.
If you run out of hot water regularly or just enjoy long, hot showers, upgrading to a tankless hot water heating system can provide all of the hot water you will ever need for your daily routine. Tankless systems heat water instantly on demand, so you don't need to pay to keep water hot as in a conventional hot water tank.
If you're in the Riverside, Orange County or San Bernardino areas, you can't go wrong with Express Electrical Services
for your plumbing needs.
