Worth leaving shower/bath water to cool down?

Tendency here is to leave shower/bath water to cool down thus releasing its warmth to the bathroom. We always have the exhaust fan running while bathing of course to get rid of moisture.

And while we are in the bathroom (in centre of house, no windows) six

40 watts bulbs (total 240 watts) above the vanity mirror are on keeping the temperature comfortable so that relative humidity is not a problem.The mirror. for example, fogs over for five to six minutes and then clears by itself. There are no mould/mildew problems.

We have a fiberglass-shower tub unit. Hot water is heated electrically in basement below. A 500 watt baseboard bathroom electric heater rarely cuts in, the lights and other warmth keeping up the bathroom temperature.

At the end of a typical shower there is warm water in the tub about 4 inches deep, 15 to 18 inches wide and about 48 inches long. These are probably a bit overestimated; but to continue ............. that's 0.3 x 1.5 x 4 cu feet of water = 1.8 lets say 2 cubic feet of water?

Water weighs 'about' 60 pounds per cu foot. So 60 x 2 = approx. 120 pounds of soapy water at a temperature of around the human body; say

90 degrees F? . Leaving it to cool down for an hour or two, to say a room temperature of 70 degrees F releases 120 pounds times 20 degrees = 2400 BTUs of warmth.

One kilowatt/hr of electricity will produce 3300 BTUs of heat.

So 2400 BTU's of warmth requires 2400/3300 = 0.73 (approx three quarters of a kilowatt/hr).

Our electrcity costs, on average, ten (10) cents per k.watt/hr. So; by doing this am I saving some 7 to 8 cents per shower?

With an average of 1.5 persons in house one shower each per day = 365 x 1.5 x 0.08 = potential saving of $44 per year? Enough, maybe, for a magazine subscription?

Welcome comments, criticism, or advice whether I have dropped a decimal point (or other grievous error) in calcs.

And of course the above is probably a 'high' average. Many showers are quicker than that (less used water). While, for example washing one's hair couple of times a week, while showering takes an extra minute or so.

Reply to
terry
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What is the actual temp of water in tub, its already cooled from air a alot, How much water does it take to clean the scum buildup every week. Turning down the thermostat water temp, insulating pipes, and low flow head will save alot more. Ng is cheaper than electric where I live.

Reply to
ransley

It depends on where you are, but where I am most of the winter calls for running the humidifier to keep the humidity up to about 40% to avoid static problems and to make it more comfortable at a lower temperature. I suggest not running the exhaust fan during the heating season for most areas. You will save even more that way. Just allow the bath room to air out by opening the door, during or after each shower.

Reply to
sligoNoSPAMjoe

Unless you are closing the drain, your drain is plugged. No way should 4 inches of water build up from a properly-installed and functioning shower. It should run out about as fast as it comes out of showerhead.

Reply to
aemeijers

...My first thought was the energy saved by not allowing the heat down the drain is offset by use of the exhaust fan. Not using the fan is a good if your house is <50% humidity. A higher humidity makes it feel warmer on the skin. I'm not sure I'd want to deal with the tub ring, though.

Reply to
Phisherman

Hmmm, Very weird thinking!

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi, If RH is 50% in my house in winter, all windows will fog up. See typical outside temp. is -20C range. It all depends.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

In article snipped-for-privacy@f20g2000yqg.googlegroups.com>, terry snipped-for-privacy@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote: [snip]

Never mind the energy issues -- you need to find out what's clogging your drain!!

Reply to
Doug Miller

When possible, in the winter. I do leave my shower or tub water until the next shower, or tub. I figure I paid for the gas to heat the water, and those BTU I want to keep in my trailer.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

And you spent way more than anything you saved using new hot water to clean the scum off the shower/tub walls and floor from leaving the standing water. Penny wise pound foolish.

Reply to
h

You mean a galon of water every week contains more BTU than

40 galons of hot water, every day? Amazing. I'm going to have to make this into a research project, and get published. Thanks for a great research paper subject, you goofball.
Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Heck fire feller! Do wut we do down here in th South, take yall one bath a week. FLNF

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

replying to terry, Adrian Campbell wrote: Hi Terry my husband has forwarded your above information to me. He has a habit of leaving our bath water in all day. We do not use an extractor fan whilst using the bath. The window is left closed. We have mould in a lot of places! He still disagrees with me to pull the plug out. Even though leaving it in causes scum to form and then dry on the bottom of the bath when I later realise and pull the plug out. The bath water takes a long time to drain. If you pull the plug out straight away the scum is less likely to settle. Please can you send him an email to say as we do not use an extractor fan mould forms in the damp atmosphere?

Reply to
Adrian Campbell

replying to terry, Adrian Campbell wrote: Hi Terry my husband has forwarded your above information to me. He has a habit of leaving our bath water in all day. We do not use an extractor fan whilst using the bath. The window is left closed. We have mould in a lot of places! He still disagrees with me to pull the plug out. Even though leaving it in causes scum to form and then dry on the bottom of the bath when I later realise and pull the plug out. The bath water takes a long time to drain. If you pull the plug out straight away the scum is less likely to settle. Please can you send him an email to say as we do not use an extractor fan mould forms in the damp atmosphere?

Reply to
Adrian Campbell

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