Taking cold showers. Does this help the environment?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Mar 30 2007, 12:49 PM) [snapback]414908[/snapback]</div>

That's how y'all became parents. hee hee

 

whew... it IS getting hot in here! :blink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Mar 30 2007, 10:59 AM) [snapback]414914[/snapback]</div>

 

Come and try that cold shower in MN. The tap water is VERY cold. I'd take the time to microwave a bowl of water and a washcloth and use that to get clean or just skip it altogethor before I'd take a cold shower in the winter. Summer's a whole different story. I've taken plenty of cold showers in the summer.

Multiple people in the shower does not seem to help. Either you get "distracted" or one person is just waiting to get in the stream anyways. I shower with my 4 year and it takes much longer. At least I've gotten him away from baths. I can fathom the whole lather up with the faucet off idea, if you didn't use more electricity in the space heater than you do for the hot water. I would bet it's a wash (Pun intended).

I'd bet the most efficient way is for the whole family to share one tub of water, as was done in the old days. The parents would wash up, then the kids would go in, and lastly the baby. Hence the old saying "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater".

 

69? Are you crazy, man!? Stick a sweater on that kid, and dial the thermostat back down to something reasonable!

Was talking to a friend who's son has been out of power for a week now. She tells me with great drama that his house gets down to 55° since he has no heat! Gosh... I DO have heat available, and I *choose* let my house get to 55°. As you've noticed, you can get used to quite a lot if you let it happen. My wife, on the other hand, has a comfort range of about 2° In fact I think that number is negative since she tends to like it WARMER in the winter and COOLER in the summer.

 

we're in a pretty severe drought now, so i only use water to rinse off. it works just fine.

 

I once had a working heat recovery unit on the air conditioner. (Quick Review - This is just a water pump and a couple of coils that use the heat of the hot freon out of the house air conditioning compressor and transfers it to the hot water tank.) When it is working, I flip off the hot water heater circuit breakers for 8 months and use this. No limit on hot showers....till they are enjoyable. Got to get that thing fixed.

 

great alternative

 

How do you have a solar apartment ?

I own 3 apartments and I'd love to add some solar panels on them

my big apt gets a lot of wind and I'd love to find a compact powerful windmill to catch some energy there

 

these are passive solar apartments- all south facing windows, solar glass (haven't figured out yet what that is), brick floors for heat mass, and a solar water heater setup on the roof.

they were designed that way, i know nothing of solar panels myself but i'm sure others here can tell you a lot about them.

 

i wont give up hot showers completely, but i always run straight cold water for the last minute or so. supposed to be good for you and its very very invigorating in the summer time if its hot out.

instead, look at low flow shower heads. we installed one and it sprays the water out in a way that makes it not feel like you are being deprived in anyway.

before we did it, one of us (i take relatively short showers since i have no hair ) would start to run out of hot water if anything else is running. after the shower head ($40 at home depot bought with Xmas gift card) we see no signs of hot water running out (the temp slowly peters out when tank is emptying) even on times when we bring Ryland into the shower which always takes a few extra minutes (dont wanna drop him@!!@)

 

Dave, what was the flow on the original shower head? I just replaced (about a week ago) our 2.5 gpm (which is the standard size) shower head for a 1.6 gpm (6.0 L/min) one. Cost $12 at the home depot. I take about a 4 minute shower (I timed it, I thought I was taking a 10 min shower...). My wife's last about 10 minutes or so. So we're saving a decent amount of water on showers and the energy (NG) it takes to heat that water. At the same time I bought a blanket (R11) for our water heater (which is located deep in the house). I don't know if it will really do much but it only cost $18 so I figured I have a go and see what it does for us. Unfortunately, I changed two variables at once, but c'est la guerre.

 

well.... gee. i was gonna say like .8 gpm?? is that right? maybe its 1.8...

i timed my showers as well and mine were about 5-7 minutes, with SO does about 20...sometimes 30 depending on whether she is shaving anything or whatever else she does.

as far as the flow on the original shower head, i dont have a clue, but i do know that it was downright painful if you had water on full blast

 

By the regs show heads are supposed to indicate their flow rates. You've probably already binned it but if you haven't you should be able to find out pretty easily.

Cor luv a duck! 30 minutes in the shower! How big's your water heater?

 

No, hyo. Just shut up and walk away. Good boy. Whew, that was close.

 

Main thing a cold shower does for the environment is limit population growth for those in the right age group.

 

As environmentally conscientious as I try to be I draw the line at cold showers.

 

There is a book by Marjorie Holmes named "God and Vitamins". In it, she proclaims the benefits of not wearing heavy coats, and of finishing off one's shower by turning the water all the way to cold for a minute or two.

I've done it. Mostly I'll just turn it to mostly cool to rinse my hair (supposed to make it shinier).

I really do take short showers, anyway. About 10 minutes is a long one for me. I mean... what all is there to do in there?