The energy used to heat and move water comes from electricity, natural gas or solar sources.
A system approach to heat energy includes not only the source of heat energy but the insulation of the “container” in which the heat is held. Building shell as a heat container; here we deal with hot water heaters and pipes as heat containers.
Insulation helps to reduce heating fuel needs. Hot water heaters, holding tanks, and pipes lose less heat if they are wrapped in a heat-insulating material.
The process is cheaper if it is done initially, but retrofit insulation may be worthwhile.
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Using heat sources for hot water heating is another approach to energy conservation. Large new hospitality facilities in energy-expensive areas should consider including some heat source for hot water other than electricity or a fossil fuel in at least a supplementary role.
Hot water heating fuel costs can also be kept low by lowering the water temperature. There is no point in having hot water so hot that users have to lower its temperature by diluting it with cold water. Of course, different users may desire various temperatures, and the water should be hot enough for all: some guests will not appreciate tepid showers.
Another problem is the need to have very hot water for a particular use, such as the dishwasher, when most other users require far less heat. In this case, keeping all the hot water at the temperature required for dishwashing would be wasteful.
One solution is to use a small booster heater for the dishwasher: another possibility might be to wash with sanitizing chemicals that do not require hot water to be effective.
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Another approach to lowering hot water costs is preventive maintenance 3 mm of scale buildup in boiler, for example, can cause fuel costs to rise by 18 percent. In the laundry area, there are numerous prevential maintenance procedures such as checking timers, cleaning lint screens, and cleaning burners that would pay energy effectiveness dividends. The motors that drive the washer- extractors and tumbler dryers can utilize the prevential maintenance procedures.
Finally, water system energy use encompasses not only water heating energy but also energy to move water. Using pumps of the correct type and size, especially when these are driven with high-efficiency motors, will save energy. Water will be easier move when larger pipes are used since friction will be reduced; in addition, leaks may be less frequent since less water pressure will be needed.