Showering less

I love to shower but not as much as my husband who can spend up to 15 minutes under the hot running water. So, the other day I told him that I’d contact our electricity company to find out how much energy is needed to support his “water indulgence”, and I found out that it’s A LOT.

E.on, a Swedish energy company, has put together a document that details how much energy (kWh) we spend on various activities in the house, from cooking to bathing. The kWh numbers they list don’t say me much because I don’t know how the figures translate into money but, when I start to compare the various activities, I quickly conclude that showering tops the list of energy consumption in the house.

Here’s a quick overview:
15-minute shower (40° C, 180 liter): 6,7 kWh
5-minute shower (40° C, 60 liter): 2,2 kWh
Washing machine, max 5 kg (50-67 liter) 40° C: 0,6 kWh
Washing machine, max 5 kg (50-67 liter) 60° C: 0,95-1,2 kWh
Dryer/kg: 1,0 kWh
Washing dishes under hot running water (45° C, 50-100 liter): 2-4kWh
Dishwasher (16-22 liter): 1-1,5 kWh
Cooking plate/per hour, full power: 2kWh
Oven/ per hour, 200° C: 0,5kWh
Microwave oven/per hour: 1,4 kWh
Water cooker/liter: 0,1 kWh

It’s safe to say from this list, that we ought to shower less, use the oven as much as possible when cooking and put the dishes in the dishwasher instead of washing them for hand. Until next time, live green!

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