The Hidden Ways You’re Wasting Energy // 10+ money-saving energy tips that'll also help the planet

[@Gittemary]

Have you located your circulation pump? 👀

[@amandakarling886]

Love this video - I’m a plumbing engineer and loved to hear you nerd out about this stuff. I specify Grundfos products on my projects over other manufacturers whenever I can, because of their commitment to sustainability! A lot of single family residential homes actually don’t have hot water recirculating pumps, in the US at least, because they aren’t required by code. If you have a shower that takes over 30 seconds to get hot in the mornings, you likely don’t. Just wanted to provide this for anyone who goes looking for it at their house and is confused! Typically, even commercially they’re only required when the furthest fixture with hot water is over 50 feet from the water heater. Newer energy codes are changing that, since they make the water heater itself last longer and become more efficient by taking load off its internal heating element!

[@Gittemary]

Thank you for adding this context ❤️

[@JohnHarrisIII-q6u]

I live very dry Austin TX USA. I've use a shower bucket and homemade rain barrel. I also have native plants. I haven't used my outside water taps for 4+ years. The paper tricked worked on some of my windows. I've also used a small candle to see if the smoke moves. Luckily, I can switch to an all green energy solution. I bought a used air fryer soi rarely need to use my oven. I love your channel and ideas.

[@Gittemary]

Sounds like you’re doing a lot of amazing things to save resources 💪💪

[@sarahfravissuel]

This is the most nerdy and great choice of sponsorship/colab 👌🏻 I’m loving it🤩

[@Gittemary]

Happy to hear that you liked it 😍

[@carnamilinga]

We have watering cans dedicated to catch water in our shower and kitchen sink. We live in a house with several apartmens (our's is under the roof) and it takes several minutes until we have hot running water. So we got used to catch the water and use it to water our houseplants. 🌱

[@Shetooktothewoods]

I love this use! Whenever Gittemarie mentions her shower bucket I think I should start doing that. And then I realize that 1. I have a well and my pumps run off my solar charged batteries and 2. I have a composting toilet so there’s no flushing. But!! Why would I not catch the shower warm-up water for my plants?? Perfect.

[@megantorri1711]

I have been using a shower bucket for at least ten years now, I never told anyone about it because I thought they would think I am weird. So, I was so happy when I found out you use one too. I would absolutely love it if they would start a system to use gray water to flush toilets!

[@Gittemary]

We are a whole community of shower-bucket-users ✨✨

[@1973InternationalKid]

(Cries in American apartment that hasn't been updated since the 90s.) Great information, keep up the amazing work!

[@Gittemary]

Uh that’s rough 🥲

[@gabriellabetarrini3176]

This is so nerdy and so "un"esthetic, I love it 😂❤

[@maddinar6727]

I think it's really funny how for me, as a German, barely any of this is news to me. 🤭 Also Stoßlüften (opning all windows at once for e few minutes) is the more energy friendly way to air out your living space than keeping your windows open just slightly. 😄

[@blodewedd210]

Hahaha, yes, the topic that's been mainly talked about in politics in Germany for more than a year now 😅

[@liekewouters9332]

In Dutch we have the saying "we stoken niet voor de mussen!", which means "we don't use heating for the sparrows!" :)

[@iippaa5184]

In Finland we cry "our warmth is going to the crows!" if someone has left a window open for too long.

[@liekewouters9332]

@iippaa5184 Ha, it's the same moment when we use our phrase!

[@Hungarianne]

In Hungary we say: Hey, we dont heat the streets! 😂

[@Gittemary]

I love how this is a shared expression across languages ❤️

[@cwicseolformask]

Being in a hot climate, I was admonished for "air conditioning the back porch" if I waited too long for the dog to come inside.

[@GarySmith-yk9vw]

Something in the UK they’re encouraging us to switch out gas boilers to ASHP via a grant which has really helped with reducing costs for moving to a low carbon solution for heating. I have done this and it is so much more efficient. Another good thing my energy supplier does is provide customers infrared cameras to help identify sources of heat loss in the house other than the usual suspects like windows and doors.

[@katp4782]

Unfortunately, as someone who rents rather than owns their home, there's little I can do to make it more energy efficient. It's still very common where I live for the houses to be poorly insulated, have single glazed centuries old windows and very inefficient installations. The government has some incentive programs for people to update those things, but the main incentive is that it saves money on energy bills in the long run. However, because it's the tenants who would see the savings, but the landlords who would pay for the improvments - most landlords will just never implement those updates :'( So yeah, I stil love to learn about all the technological advancements in energy efficiency! But unless the entire mess of a housing situation is overhauled, there's little I (and 40% of my country's population who also rents) can do about it :'(

[@Gittemary]

I know the struggle of landlords… my own are also very reluctant to make improvements on the building and it can feel so discouraging 😞

[@madzikandcats]

I use shower bucket for some time now. Thanks to you ❤❤❤

[@najah.7626]

I love this new kind of video!😍 It could be even longer🤓 It would be cool to see how/if Denmark reuses all of the materials we have to sort - I cant find anything on it🤔 I would actually love to go on a tour inside of such a facility🤩😂

[@Gittemary]

Uh I hear you 👀 noted ❤️

[@dbum8]

we bought two years ago a washing mashine with thumble dryer. And it is just so convinient. on the other hand we don't have to own so many clothes, linen, towels. I haven't experience our clothes to wear out more often than they used to do without thumble dryer. (I'm wearing the clothes multiple times befor washing them though.) But with children clothes i noticed that the shirts with prints, that sometimes on surface prints are cracking way more sooner with using thumbler dryer. And cracked prints on clothes makes it hard to recycle via secondhand as nobody wants clothes with cracked prints ofcourse. So now looking for pre used children clothes without prints offcourse.

[@megan6552]

As a renter how can you encourage your landlord to make changes for energy efficiency? What changes can renters make themselves (I'm in the UK but interested in this as a wider discussion)

[@Mandy0456]

I think it'll totally depend on how good your landlords are. I mean, you can always just ask them about things you're curious about. You can change the lightbulbs at the least and reduce waste where you can. Changing appliances and installing solar will likely require permission and a discussion. Your question is a little too vague because there's such a wide scope of things you can do. I've added weather stripping to my doors and changed the lightbulbs and use a clothesline. Replacing the fridge was the responsibility of my landlords though

[@JohnHarrisIII-q6u]

Be involved. Make sure your landlord or management company knows you want a more efficient system to see them and you money. You can visit your cities website to see what programs might give rebates or help with an energy audit. In Austin TX USA , there are energy rebates, green energy choices for our power grid, free energy audits, and other incentives to save energy. Good luck and share any results!

[@carolineschlunke]

Wow thx so much for this important information🙏❤️

[@Gittemary]

Thank you for watching 🫶

[@CreativeRedundancy]

Hello again this was interesting hope it circulates well ;) Will use a shower bucket until then. Drafts from under doors, using natural lighting, and such can help.

[@emmavik-fredriksson640]

The dishwasher being more eco-friendly, I would really like to know how that's calculated. Is the dishwasher itself calculated in this? They usually have a lifespan of a couple of years, so there's a lot of metal and plastic to produce that consumes water in the process. It also depends how you wash it by hand. If you do it under running water or fill the tub with water. Where I live my water is heated with burning trash and comes to us with faraway heating. I just can't get over the feeling that "the dishwasher is the best option" is just a way for Electrolux to sell more machines. For us it doesn't matter, we can't install dishwasher in our apartment and have to handwash.

[@rikkemeek1506]

I have wondered about that aswell. I think a dishwasher would be the best choice if you have a large family.

[@rochelle2758]

I've had the same thought! I'm not necessarily doubting that it's true, but people say it so blithely, and I would like to see exactly what kind of by-hand dishwashing is being compared to the machines.

[@CaroGomezCarrillo]

She has an impact video that explains it

[@anastaciamirsanova2315]

A couple of years whaaat?! We use ours for eight years already. Only had a couple of minor breaks fixed through this entire period.

[@Raccoon00798]

Hey Gittemary, first, I've been keeping an eye on my water waste, and I'm appalled by myself. I've been focusing on fixing this. Second, do you think you will do a video on the detrimental California fires, specifically on their effects on biodiversity and extinction of species?

[@annemumford9459]

I'm curious what the comparison of keeping old appliances that are built better and have already used the resources to manufacture versus the cost to the planet to dispose of them only to buy new ones. I can't help but wonder if the push for newer "efficient" things is tied more to manufacturers profit over the "sAvinG thE plAnet" hype that gets pushed. I truly can't see how "efficient" it would be for everyone to trash what they have so that the whole process of acquiring raw materials, shipping them to a far away factory using astronomical amounts of energy to manufacture the thing to replace the discard, to then ship the item around the world, to then truck it either to a store or warehouse, to then truck it to its new owner is better for the planet. And, after an appallingly few years, planned obsolescence will kick in, and the item will have to be replaced. Maybe looking at limiting or changing how appliances are used would be a better option. Batch cook for a week instead of firing up the oven every day for an hour. Use a whisk or an old fashioned hand rotary mixer instead of the stand mixer, and save the big one for hard to mix things like cookie dough. Here in America, a lot of us could switch to a smaller fridge instead of over buying fresh produce that ends up getting shoved in the back and forgotten. Some people do laundry every day, using both a washer and dryer, which blows my mind. Unless you're part of the Duggar clan, that's crazy. Changing a lot of little habits could make a better difference than pitching working items.

[@fruitcakegary8011]

Why did the thumbnail make me think you were going to talk about little camera jackets to save energy :')

[@anika_thetrailguide]

I have an idea for an impact video! This fits in the kitchen appliance category- how do you feel about the SodaStream? I got one so I could make seltzer water at home, instead of frequently buying packs of cans. But I wonder if, even with the CO2 bottle exchange program (I get a discount if I return my empty canister when I pick up a full one), is the impact of these better than buying and recycling aluminum cans? Curious to hear what you think! I know people might respond and just say I can drink plain water instead, but for regular people who want to drink something other than soda or alcohol, seltzer water is a helpful alternative:)

[@justynaaleksiejuk1802]

Luckily, my freezer have anti frosting mechanism (?)

[@Gittemary]

that is definitely to be preferred✨

[@HeyLauryn]

With renovations, I never understand why people trash perfectly good materials just to renovate. And it also seems to happen when people are selling a property too. They renovate or add a new carpet just for whoever is buying it to tear it all out anyway half the time and they aren’t buying the house with the plan to be their home for the next 20+ years. So wasteful! One thing to note with LEDs though, they can flicker imperceptible so and it can be an issue for some people in terms of nervous system stuff. So, especially in bedrooms at least on the main lights you have on when you go to sleep or where you work late at night, I think it’s okay to have incandescent bulbs.

[@star1222light]

I wish I could see the price in USD I looked at the website and the stores they sell from but only one actually had it and I had to have an account to even see the price

[@mara4569]

Hej Gittemary! Hvad heder den danske udtryk du har overset? Jeg lærer dansk og ville gerne vide 🥰 Fedt og interessant video som altid! 🙏🏼

[@Gittemary]

“At fyre for fuglene” ☺️

[@mara4569]

@@Gittemary Tusind tak! Godt at vide ☺

[@orangeandcalico]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Project Kamp here on KZbin.

[@hirmaelena1991]

I'm part of the shower bucket club

[@Gittemary]

Welcome💅✨❤️

[@gwengoeltl5875]

I tried to reduce use of a drier until recently but since I don't have the option to hang wet clothes outside and my heating uses gas I don't think it saves energy to avoid the dryer. Does anyone have actual data on dryer energy consumption compared to additional heating costs?

[@JohnHarrisIII-q6u]

I don't have those numbers. I use indoor drying racks and run a ceiling or floor fan to accelerate the drying process if very wet. A average dryer uses 1800-5000 watts to dry vs 50-100 for a fan. I did this in Oregon (very cold and wet outside ) and Texas (HOA doesn't allow laundry lines). Good luck and share any results!

[@RaqMor13]

Sadly here my water efforts won’t save me money. My municipal sent out a notice that even if you spend 1 gallon or 1900 gallon in 3 months, you still have to pay $30

[@kristinalundbergh7851]

Are you sure the $30 is not just the service charge, which is the same for everyone. And the amount of water is separate and paid by the gallons/m2?

[@JohnHarrisIII-q6u]

I might suggest if you have the time contacting your local city council representative . I can understand a base service fee but 1 gal vs 1900might warrant a scalable rate change. In Austin Texas USA, we are similar in 1gal- 2000gal is only $1.30 fee above the base but above it goes up to higher levels. Unfortunately the average US person uses 80-100 gal a day!

[@ronjas]

Du burde lave en video med Signe Wenneberg om renovering/nybyg 🤩

[@Gittemary]

Det burde jeg faktisk 💚 Signe er med i samme kampagne med Grundfos faktisk 🌿

[@kingalew3805]

Before watching - is it just me or is the colour correction a bit too saturated on this one?

[@buzzy.bee.crafts]

It is

[@orangeandcalico]

I don’t think it matters

[@buzzy.bee.crafts]

@@orangeandcalico it doesn’t but she might not be aware

[@Gittemary]

I am using new software and still trying to get to know it well - expect some trial and error on my end ✨