Save on Utility Costs This Winter
Depending upon where you live, your energy and utility bills can really skyrocket in the winter, for some of you it may be the summer months that cause your bills to go up. Wherever you live, and whatever your energy consumption, I have some tricks to lowering those monthly bills.
The average household in America spends roughly 1,300$ per year on electricity alone, and of this 11% is used up just for lighting.
So, I will start you off with lighting tips:
Do yourself a HUGE favor and switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, they cost a little more up front, but will save you a ton in the long run.
Switch to solar lighting for your outdoor lighting, the decorative solar lights that you place in ground can be found on sale at many of your local hardware stores.
Turn off the lights in rooms you are not using and use either auto nightlights that turn on only when the room is dark or use timers for small lamps so they are only on at certain times instead of running all night.
Use task lighting in places like your home office and kitchen, so you will not have to light an entire room to do a few things.
Use timers on your outdoor and any indoor lights you would like to have on while you are on vacation.
Put those Holiday lights on timers. You can pick up indoor/outdoor timers relatively cheap at most hardware stores, and they last forever, really we have one that has been around for 15 years and works great still!
If you have dimmer switches, use them.
Use motion senses lights outside your home if you need something brighter than solar powered lamps, these will only turn on for a few minutes when motion is detected.
Save on Heating/Cooling:
Take advantage of daylight, open your curtains or shutters during the day to warm up your home, and keep it lit without having to turn on your lights, close them during the evening as the sun goes down to keep that warmth inside.
Improve the efficiency of your windows and doors by making sure they are sealed properly, and use a Draft Guard
Set your indoor temperature to the lowest setting you are comfortable with, and never crank it up to heat your home faster. This is a myth, it will not warm up any faster, in fact it will suck away electricity and take up to twice as long to heat your home.
Have a qualified professional check your cooling and heating ducts once or twice per year.They need to look for leaks that are in the ducts or blockages that may be causing you to waste money. Have them check the insulation around your ducts as well, you can lose up to 60% of your heated air before it reaches the register if the ducts are inadequate in some way.
Clean or replace your air filters regularly, you do not want anything clogging up your ducts are restricting your air flow. You can often times buy air filters in bulk to lower these costs, check your local club or warehouse stores.
Save on your utility bills, simply:
75% of power in the average home is used up by devices plugged in when not in use. Unplug everything after use. This includes, computer equipment, TVs, small appliances, lamps, everything.
Put your computers and office equipment on surge protector with an on/off switch. Turn these off when you are not using the equipment, it is not enough to just turn off the computer or printer, you have to turn off the surge protector as well.
Unplug all those chargers, your cell phone, ipod, camera, etc. After your device is charged, unplug those chargers, they will continue to pull electricity even without a device plugged in, such a waste.
Install low flow shower heads, and repair any leaky faucets you have, this can keep you from wasting GALLONS of water a day.
Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater, 120 degrees should be comfortable for most people and will lower your monthly bill.
If you are buying any new appliances, consider buying Energy Star Appliances, they are built to save you money and save the environment.
Replace your water heater if it is more than 10 years old, after 10 years they can start to malfunction, causing you to waste serious money.
The average hot water usage in the typical American home, per week looks like this:
Laundry-32 gallons
Showers-20 gallons
Dishwasher-12 gallons
Consider using only cold water for laundry and only run the washer if it is a full load.
The same goes for the dishwasher, only run if you have a full load, wash everything else by hand.
Turn off any exhaust fans you have within 20 minutes of use, they can zap energy and raise your bills.
Switch to battery power for things like alarm clocks, radios and power toothbrushes.
Keep your refrigerator and freezer at the recommended settings from your manufacturer, these are based on the best performance and lowest energy usage.
Not only will trying these ideas in your home lower your bills, they will also help our environment. 2 birds, 1 stone, good deals.
Happy Saving Everyone!
Topics: Finance & Money |
March 31st, 2008
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