If your current shower head flows at 12 litres per minute and two people take a 10- minute shower each day, you’ll use $458 worth of electrically heated water per year.
Change that head to one that flows at 8 litres per minute (like many in our trial) and the hot-water bill drops to $305, saving you $153 a year. It’s certainly worth doing.
WELS
At appliance stores you'll notice minimum energy performance (MEPS) labels on major appliances like fridges and TVs. These labels give you information about energy use.
A similar water-efficiency labelling scheme (WELS) is being introduced for appliances that use water. WELS labels (similar to MEPS but a different colour) will be applied to dishwashers, washing machines, showers, taps, lavatories and urinals. WELS labels will be required from April 2011.
Report by Bill Whitley.
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