We used to have a separate floor for receiving visitors and giving presentations. The toilets there were a cut above the rest. Soft lighting, solid seats, and the thing I loved most of all: heated water coming from the sink faucets 🥰
They were a joy to use, but after Covid they repurposed and remodeled the floor. Now the toilets are worse than on the other floors.
Those heated faucets will always hold a special place in my heart :)
tldr: Hot water tends to majorly influence home/office energy use.
tl: Since living with rooftop solar here, I have noticed just how much energy is often drawn because of warm water. As in, in this house, you can see very noticeable usage spikes in the solar app whenever someone showers or washes dishes. I’ve completely given up on washing my hands with warm water and have reduced the amount of water I shower with. We’ve also started using the electric kettle for heating water because it means you usually only heat up about as much water as you actually need and the kettle has a pretty uniform 2kW power draw (which helps make it work on solar).
Obviously, there are different systems for heating water but one way or another, they tend to use a lot of energy and heat more water than necessary to higher temperatures than necessary. Unsurprisingly, other major energy wasters that most of us come into contact on a daily basis are also all about changing temperatures, namely home heating, AC and gas-powered motors (aka drivable heatings).
*sigh*
Of course you’re right that using heated water for washing your hands is a bit of a wasteful luxury. I just had some good memories of that bathroom.
Oh please, I’m not going to shout at someone for being passionate about water heating :)
It’s not like I had such an important story to share anyway, don’t worry about it.
We have a lobby for visitors. Naturally, it has the nicest bathrooms. I work night, when we never have visitors. It is definitely the ideal place to take a poop.
We used to have a separate floor for receiving visitors and giving presentations. The toilets there were a cut above the rest. Soft lighting, solid seats, and the thing I loved most of all: heated water coming from the sink faucets 🥰
They were a joy to use, but after Covid they repurposed and remodeled the floor. Now the toilets are worse than on the other floors.
Those heated faucets will always hold a special place in my heart :)
On a tangent, …
tldr: Hot water tends to majorly influence home/office energy use.
tl: Since living with rooftop solar here, I have noticed just how much energy is often drawn because of warm water. As in, in this house, you can see very noticeable usage spikes in the solar app whenever someone showers or washes dishes. I’ve completely given up on washing my hands with warm water and have reduced the amount of water I shower with. We’ve also started using the electric kettle for heating water because it means you usually only heat up about as much water as you actually need and the kettle has a pretty uniform 2kW power draw (which helps make it work on solar).
Obviously, there are different systems for heating water but one way or another, they tend to use a lot of energy and heat more water than necessary to higher temperatures than necessary. Unsurprisingly, other major energy wasters that most of us come into contact on a daily basis are also all about changing temperatures, namely home heating, AC and gas-powered motors (aka drivable heatings).
*sigh*
Of course you’re right that using heated water for washing your hands is a bit of a wasteful luxury. I just had some good memories of that bathroom.
Thanks for not shouting at me for the hijack comment.
Oh please, I’m not going to shout at someone for being passionate about water heating :)
It’s not like I had such an important story to share anyway, don’t worry about it.
We have a lobby for visitors. Naturally, it has the nicest bathrooms. I work night, when we never have visitors. It is definitely the ideal place to take a poop.