{"items": [{"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959365571582", "anchor": "fb-959365571582", "service": "fb", "text": "Water in my part of Northern California is $3.76 per 100 cubic ft, or 0.5\u00a2 per gallon, as long as you don't go into the higher usage tier. It's maddening how cheap it is. The bill even comes with a flyer with guidelines of how many gallons per day you should expect to use per 100 sq ft of outdoor space you irrigate.", "timestamp": "1537129780"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959365571582&reply_comment_id=959367048622", "anchor": "fb-959365571582_959367048622", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Is that counting sewer charges? We pay $4.14 for water, $8.20 for sewer, and $12.34 combined.
https://www.somervillema.gov/.../water-and-sewer-rates", "timestamp": "1537130763"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959365571582&reply_comment_id=959427472532", "anchor": "fb-959365571582_959427472532", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We pay high fixed costs: on our first bill which covered about 1 1/2 months we paid $34.35 for \"water service charge\", $25.34 for wastewater, and $54.01 for sewer service, all fixed amounts I believe. But then we paid $14.73 for about 3000 gallons of water on top of that, which seems silly.", "timestamp": "1537159550"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959365571582&reply_comment_id=959445301802", "anchor": "fb-959365571582_959445301802", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Alex interesting! If I'm reading our bill right we're just charged in proportion to usage.", "timestamp": "1537188809"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959365571582&reply_comment_id=959445311782", "anchor": "fb-959365571582_959445311782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Especially silly for CA", "timestamp": "1537188835"}, {"author": "Frederic", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312", "anchor": "fb-959368700312", "service": "fb", "text": "I don\u2019t think this is a good number. I see high estimates for an old top loader of 45 gallons per load and the minimum for a super efficient washer of 5. So let\u2019s give you a delta of 40 gallons/load. To save 16k gallons in optimal circumstances that is 400 loads over 171 days, about 2.3 loads a day, which seems very high.", "timestamp": "1537131778"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959379743182", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959379743182", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Frederic Maybe we had an especially bad top loader? But not that much worse; nine people means a lot of washing.", "timestamp": "1537136301"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959379962742", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959379962742", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Probably we do a load per person per week? So 1.3/d?", "timestamp": "1537136423"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959391614392", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959391614392", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It would be easier to see the change if you were to plot dWaterUsage/dt.", "timestamp": "1537141857"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959445471462", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959445471462", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'm seeing estimates online of 300 loads/year for a four person family, so if I figure 300 loads for us, 150 for the couple, and 100 each for the three individuals, that's 750/y or 2.1/d.", "timestamp": "1537189119"}, {"author": "Frederic", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959446279842", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959446279842", "service": "fb", "text": "→ OK. That sounds like a lot to me, but I'm just the anecdote here.
Are you sure you didn't fix any minor drips, leaks or toilet running issues?", "timestamp": "1537189685"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959493744722", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959493744722", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Peter", "timestamp": "1537210104"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959496154892", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959496154892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Instead of grouping by months, here's a moving average", "timestamp": "1537211643"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959498954282", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959498954282", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman from your description of water savings, I'd have expected to see less water usage per month after the change, but it certainly isn't obvious from looking at that graph. If anything, the trend line looks to be sloping up.", "timestamp": "1537213002"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959368700312&reply_comment_id=959500645892", "anchor": "fb-959368700312_959500645892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Peter there are more people in the house now than at many earlier times. The house has only been completely full since the beginning of 2017.", "timestamp": "1537213490"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992", "anchor": "fb-959407282992", "service": "fb", "text": "Are there any high-efficiency top-loaders that aren't front-leakers and front-mold-growers?", "timestamp": "1537149713"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959409623302", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959409623302", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Andrew ours is in the basement, and we leave the door open when we're not using it. I'm not worried.", "timestamp": "1537150969"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959409668212", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959409668212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ (we haven't had any leaks or mold, but it's also less than a year old)", "timestamp": "1537150999"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959421644212", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959421644212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes, they make HE toploaders. I think that they don't have the mold problem; they don't need the super tight seal, and also the companies have learned to incorporate silver or other biocides into critical parts.", "timestamp": "1537155481"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959450451482", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959450451482", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We've had LG front loaders for about 4 years & no problems with leaks or mold. We always leave the door open (ajar) when not in use, and we do follow the instructions for periodic cleaning cycles.", "timestamp": "1537192195"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959470800702", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959470800702", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I've experienced the mold problem, but in a \u2022much\u2022 older HE front loader. Manually drying the seal after each load keeps it from happening.", "timestamp": "1537200694"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959503041092", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959503041092", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Manually drying the seal is the solution to the problem, along with periodically running a tub-clean cycle. Most modern washing machines aren't built to last much longer than 10-15 years anyway, and you will save money over that time period over HE top loaders because they are still so much more efficient.", "timestamp": "1537215148"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959514318492", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959514318492", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Alex are HE top loaders much less efficient than HE front loaders?", "timestamp": "1537220488"}, {"author": "Maggie", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959577397082", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959577397082", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We have a 14 year old Frigidaire front loader, no mold, no leaks! I chose it because I did not have time to do research, so I just asked the Pinewoods manager what they had in the crew laundry area (knowing someone would have done the research before theirs were bought).", "timestamp": "1537265387"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959612516702", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959612516702", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael: did some research just now... I looked up LG's best front loader and best top loader and the top loader uses half a gallon more water per cu ft of laundry. Ymmv, but if you run 300 4 cu ft loads a year that's 600 gallons of water, or about $10/year at the water rate Jeff quotes. $150 over 15 years, which I guess isn't actually the cost of the washer, but it is significant. :)", "timestamp": "1537286960"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959612711312", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959612711312", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There is the cost of energy to run the washer, though, which I didn't look at, and if you run warm or hot loads that makes the cost savings bigger.", "timestamp": "1537287075"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959613369992", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959613369992", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Alex it's nice to know the numbers! Thanks!", "timestamp": "1537287413"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/959358415922?comment_id=959407282992&reply_comment_id=959613544642", "anchor": "fb-959407282992_959613544642", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael shockingly the federal government still runs the Energy Star site which has lots of data: https://www.energystar.gov/.../certified-clothes.../results", "timestamp": "1537287562"}]}