Replace inefficient toilets

Dear Jim: Our monthly utility bills are killing our budget and we just got a big water bill. We have stained old toilets which should be replaced with new water-saving ones. What toilet options are available? – Jerry M.

Dear Jerry: Flushing toilets is one of the major water-consuming activities for most families. Many old toilets use 3.5 to 5 gpf (gallons per flush). New toilets, by law, cannot use more than 1.6 gpf. With the new bowl and internal plumbing designs, these new toilets flush effectively.

People don’t realize old water-guzzling toilets not only increase your water bills, but they also increase your heating bills. Each time you flush the toilet, its tank is refilled with cold water. This makes your furnace run longer because this water absorbs heat as it warms to room temperature.

You have many toilet options, which range from 1.6 gpf gravity models to no water at all. Most low-cost ones which you can find at home center stores will be 1.6 gpf gravity designs. Two-piece toilets with a separate tank that bolts to the bowl are more common and less expensive than the designer one-piece toilets. Being in two pieces, they are easier to carry and install.

If you have many boys in your family, consider installing a urinal in one of the bathrooms. These use very little water per flush and are not difficult to install. Most of the major bathroom fixtures manufacturers also offer urinals so you will not have trouble finding or installing one.

Unless you have small children who might get confused, consider installing a dual-flush model. You select a standard flush of 1.6 gallons for solid wastes or a water-saving flush of 1.1 gallons for liquid wastes. They look identical to a standard toilet except for the dual-option flush handle.

Another design uses pressure-assist for a positive flush with low water usage. The water pressure entering your home compresses air in a vessel inside the tank. When you flush it, this pressure assists gravity to create an effective flush action. The flush is rapid, but it is louder than a standard gravity flush toilet so you may not want this by a bedroom.

If you really want to eliminate all water usage, consider a composting or incinerating toilet. A composting toilet allows the wastes to decompose into usable soil. With its vented design, there is no odor.

There are electric and nonelectric models available. Incinerating toilets use electric heating elements to incinerate the wastes into fine ash.

Another option is a macerating toilet. This design uses a grinding pump to move the water and waste as much as 12 feet vertically and 150 feet horizontally to a sewer line or septic system. This makes it possible to add a new toilet on a concrete slab or in a basement with no drain.

The following companies offer water-saving toilets: American Standard, (800) 442-1902, www.americanstandard-us.com; Biolet, (800) 524-6538, www.biolet.com; Briggs Plumbing, (800) 627-4443, www.briggsplumbing.com; Microphor, (800) 358-8280, www.microphor.com; and Saniflo, (800) 363-5874, www.saniflo.com.

Dear Jim: I have a natural gas heater wall heater that I have used for years. With the price of natural gas so high now, I would like to convert it to propane. Can a gas heater be converted to propane? – Steve M.

Dear Steve: You should check with the manufacturer first, but many gas heaters can be converted to operate on propane. It often requires just a change in the orifice which provides gas to the burners.

Before doing this, check on the relative prices of natural gas and propane in your area. Even with the recent increases in natural gas prices, it still may be less expensive to heat with gas than with propane.

Send inquiries to James Dulley, Bangor Daily News, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com.