Living Green? Think Tankless Water Heater

For the whole house (above) $169.00

We bought a home that needs repairs but has no mortgage!
This is our chance to "Go Green".
We started with a tankless water heater, and added a smaller
one for the shower. I was so impressed I thought I'd share.
If you have a large family, you can add a sink booster for around $50.

For the shower:Price: $32.99

about tankless water heaters:

Tankless water heaters are considered a “green” alternative to traditional water heaters. They can be up to 95% energy efficient, use up to 50% less energy, conserve water and produce less carbon dioxide than traditional water heaters. Some models are even made from 95% recyclable materials. Tankless water heaters also offer an endless supply of hot water and take up less space than tank-style heaters.

Heating water can account for 30% of a household's energy consumption, so switching to a tankless water heater is a great way to conserve energy and it is good for the environment.

I was able to purchase both of these for less than a traditional hot water would
have cost. My husband and son are in the basement installing them now.

Living Green - Why do you flush your toilet with drinking water?

I managed to get my water bill down to $13 this month!

My secret - Save rain water in a plastic barrel.
You can find them used on ebay for as little as $10.
Place a window screen on top to keep mosquitos out.

Place the water barrel outside but near the bathroom.
Before using the potty, bring in a bucket of the rain water.
To flush, flip the seat up and pour the rain water in, works
like a charm!

I 'm burning a few extra calories and saving my drinking water for drinking.
A dear neighbor has given me a wonderful old ringer washer. I have
to use a corncob to plug the water basin because the plug was lost years ago.
I can use this same rain water to wash clothes with good results.

This may seem extreme to you, but it's just fun to me!
My hubby was shocked at the savings on the water bill! haha

Today's Diet Tip - make that glass of water more appealing

Squeeze some fresh lime juice to add to your "water" and garnish!

Most diets call for you to drink more water. I have some tips on how to make that FUN.
1. use your fancy glasses
2. try sparkling water
3. garnish your water
4. flavor your water
Make your glass of water as luxurious as possible.

Here are some free samples you can use to flavor your water:
Free Samples of True Lemon, Lime and Orange samples (US)

However you choose to embellish your water, just know that it IS
worth the effort! Some of your extra pounds probably come from
calories that you drink. Cut those down to zero and watch the pounds
melt effortlessly away.

Giveaway ~ SteriPEN Traveler Portable Water Purification System ,US & Canada, Ends 9/13

ENTER HERE

Giveaway will end on Monday 9/13. U.S. & Canadian entrants only. Winners are contacted by email and posted posted HERE when confirmed. Winners have 48 hours to confirm before a new Winner is chosen. Many thanks to SteriPEN for this Review and Giveaway Opportunity!

Lower Electric Bills with a Solar Water Heater

I have seen some interesting homemade hot water heaters including placing
black plastic barrels on the shed roof and attaching lots of garden hose to warm in the sun. Now that we have our own home, we are more serious about projects like this.
meatloaf1234 posted this video on YouTube and it has given me all kinds of new ideas.

from meatloaf1234:
I decided to build this to fight back at the electric company. I live in Florida, and if there's one thing we have plenty of, it's sunshine. This unit was fun and inexpensive to build, it will run for years maintenance free and provide my hot water heater with pre-heated water, so that it will not have to work very hard (maybe not even at all) to get the water up to desired temperature. I used Google sketchup as a CAD program to design the frame and I'm willing to share with anyone that is interested, just send me your email address.

I found some more info @ Discover Solar Energy
DIY (Do it Yourself) Projects -- Solar Water Heaters Projects

A simple Solar Water Heater

A Simple Solar Water Pasteurizer: Drinking water can be easily pasteurized using solar energy and a few simple materials. When water or milk is pasteurized the common disease-causing organisms are killed….

How To Build A Solar Hot Water System

Self-build Solar Hot Water

Solar Water Heating

Reduce Water Week Giveaway at Moms Blog

From Moms Blog at Mommy Enterprises:

If you are one that follows my blog, you might know that I am always looking for ways to live more eco-friendly. While I don’t make many BIG changes, I believe the small things I do counts. For example, I recycle my plastic and cans. I don’t save them and take them to a recycling place because I guess you can say that I am lazy. I do try to put all my recyclables in my blue recycling garbage can that gets picked up every other week. I am also cautious with the amount of water we waste, paper we waste, etc. I am hoping that my children will notice mom recycling all the time and will follow in my footsteps. This would make my small changes even bigger.

We recently have had the opportunity to review some cool water bottles from Reduce. We have the Water Week set and I LOVE them. The reason why I have a passion for these bottles is the fact that I drink a TON of water every day. I am one of those people that try to drink their recommended 8 glasses of water each day. I only wish that my family loved water as much as I do. Sometimes I have to make sure we have nothing else to drink so that everyone will drink water around here. While I don’t really prefer tap water (i think its kinda dirty), I hate using those non reusable plastic water bottles that you get when you buy bottled water. I feel bad using and tossing them and have heard bad things of trying to re-use them. So the best thing that I have done is recycle them.

The Reduce WaterWeek bottles come in very handy. I know can keep my fridge stocked with cold water in bottles that I can reuse. What I do now is buy a big jug of bottled water and fill these bottles up. These came in very handy during my road trip to Disneyland last week. We each had our own cute bottle of water in the car for the drive.

Here are some of the features:

• BPA free
• 16oz capacity
• Saves consumers an average of $500 per year!
• Includes fridge tray that slides neatly into your fridge.
• Dishwasher and freezer safe.

You can find the Reduce Water Week bottles in two different designs (Spectrum & Naturals):

Buy Them: You can buy the Reduce Water Week bottles at Reduce by visiting: http://www.reduceeveryday.com

Guess What Readers? The very nice people over at Reduce have offered my readers a chance to win their own set of Reduce Water Week bottles.

ENTER NOW

This giveaway will end on August 18, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and submitted. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to contact me with their mailing information before another winner is chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only ages 18 years or older.