Green Remodel Forum

Have a native garden! I live in N. California where the summer is very dry. I used so much water to keep my lawn green all summer long. Three years ago, I decided to remove my lawn and planted all drought tolerant plants. The drip system water all the new plantings the first two years. After that, voila, no more watering the plants. I prune them a few times a year. There is no more watering, no more mowing. Save money , save time, and save energy!

I have a rain water trap set up that collects rain water from my roof. I set up some plumbing for it to travel down to a water storage barrel in our basement. We use it for doing our laundry and dishes. Setting up the plumbing was no hassle at all. Most water usage in the home comes from those two areas so it eliminated a lot of water waste for us.

My water bill is crazy in the summer. After removing my lawn, I planted drought tolerant plants. It saves me quite a bit of money from watering the lawn and buying fertilizer. I have more time to do other things. It feels so good that I don't have to remember to mow my lawn any more.

Yes!! Me too, no more pesticide, no more big water bill, no more lawn mowing!

you can build a sustainable pond to water your yard with instead of utility water and replenish it with your roof.. plus there is a ton of other benefits ..

once you have a big one setup you can run pipes through it circulate water through the pipes and use them to heat or cool your house.. neat stuff

The project above you can do for about 20-50$ that can cut your water bill by 30-40% make your home more green supply more nutrients to your lawn making it stronger, healthier, drought resistant, and greener. As well as bring a bit more aesthetics to your home.

One of these DIY(specifically) point-of-use water heaters here can trim power and reduce that wasted water that is not used waiting for the hot water to reach the faucet from the heater.. This can be estimated to be around 30,000 gallons a year which is around 30% of your water usage based on a family of 4.. Which is kind of suprising when you think about the amount of water you waste waiting for hot water to reach the faucet.

I had a point-of-use water heater installed under the sink in the cabinet in my kitchen so that I don’t have to boil water for my coffee or tea. When I need hot water to degrease some of the greasy dishes and pans I get hot water instantly. (We are vegetarians and our dishes are not that grease.) I find it convenient with no waiting for hot water and may save us energy too.

I read out your interesting and informative post....i'm agreed what's said above.You really inspired me with that.This is a very useful thread that will be referenced long into the future.

It's interesting about point-of-use water heaters. That means you have to install a separate small water heater under the sink in addition to the conventional water heater in the garage. You may save some cold water going down the drain while waiting for the hot water, but I'm not sure you save energy. Because you have 2 heaters heating water 24/7.