When you have a bath or a shower, how is your water heated? For most people, the answer is likely to be either that you have a hot water tank that stores the water for when you need it, or central heating that provides hot water as and when there is a need for it. But are there any alternative ways that you could power your hot baths and showers?
After all, we’re always being urged to do what we can to use less energy and be kinder to the environment – but giving up our nice warm baths isn’t the most appealing thought in the world so it might well be worth giving some thought to other ways of heating our water.
One option that is becoming increasingly popular is to make use of solar power, which is a useful way of producing your own electricity. As long as you’ve got a flat, sturdy, sun-facing roof and are willing to invest in the technology to begin with, a solar panel could be a good option. There are also government schemes available to help fund the cost of solar panels and you also have the option of selling any energy you don’t use back to the National Grid.
So, it’s entirely conceivable that you could all one day be in your large bathrooms having a nice hot shower that is completely powered by the solar panels installed on the roofs of your houses. Even though the UK is not the sunniest country in the world, there is still quite good potential for harnessing the sun’s power and energy in this way. Sometimes the energy produced can also be stored until you need to use it, which is certainly very useful.
Another alternative method of heating your water could be found in wind power. For instance, one option is to install a small wind turbine on your roof to generate power that you can then use to heat the water you use in your bath or shower. This can be a particularly good option if you live high up as your turbine is more likely to work consistently. This is also often thought to be the cheapest option when it comes to investing in renewable energy at home – you just need to bear in mind that the turbines can be noisy and you need to be careful to choose the right one as you need to get one that is appropriate for the average wind speed where you live.
What about other ways to power water in your bathroom suites? Well, if you live near a river then hydro power could be an option. This probably isn’t an option that many people could take advantage of as it would require a water turbine to produce electricity, but it’s certainly an interesting notion. Failing that, if you’re looking for an alternative way to heat your bath then you could always go back to basics – heat the water in a kettle or on a fire and go about filling the tub the long way round!
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Filed under: Alternative Energy Solutions
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