How to Save on Utility Bills

Everyone wants to save money on their utility bills. You could always simply stop using your utilities; this would save you the most money, but you would likely find that you missed electricity, heat, and running water. The trick is to find ways to reduce your consumption of gas, water, and electricity without noticeably impacting your life. There are a number of ways to do this, most of which you may not even notice until you are pleasantly surprised by your lower bills.

LIGHTING
1. Switch to compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs.
CF bulbs (the little spiral bulbs that fit in standard light sockets) generally use only a quarter of the electricity it takes to power standard light bulbs. When the average home contains around 40 light bulbs, this can add up to some serious savings. CF bulbs are a bit more expensive, but they will last up to ten times as long, and will more than make up for their initial cost in savings. If you have light fixtures where the bulb is visible, there are CF bulbs that are designed to mimic the bulb shape of standard incandescents. There are also CF bulbs to replace your outdoor floodlights, so don’t stop at the inside of your home!

2. For holiday or other decorative lighting, consider LED lights.
LEDs consume only a trickle of electricity, so you can let your lawn or patio glow like the sun without panicking about the electric bill. LED lights cost a few more bucks than standard, high quality light strings, but if you plan on using them a lot, you will reap the benefits. As the popularity of LEDs grows, more and more options of color, size, and shape are available; many mimic standard light strings, others incorporate features like color changing.

3. Use automatic timers or sensors.
If you want the lights to be on when you come home, an automatic timer may be your answer. Plug a lamp into the timer, and set it to turn on just before you are due home. Outdoor timers can be used for any plug-in outdoor lighting (there are particularly good for holiday lights). Light and motion sensors, commonly found in floodlight fixtures, can turn on outdoor lights when the light senses motion or low light levels.

WATER, HOT OR OTHERWISE
Some of you country folk might be surprised to know that many people actually pay for their water. While the city folk may be jealous of your ability to use cold water with reckless abandon, everyone pays for making that cold water hot. The following are tips for conserving water of all temperatures:

1. Install low-flow shower heads and faucets.
Water saving shower heads are fairly inexpensive, and you probably won’t even notice all that water that is not hitting you on the head. Modern low-flow faucets will help you save even more money. All new toilets are water saving by law, but if you have an older model, fill a milk jug or soda bottle with water (don’t forget the cap) and put it in your tank. The bottle will take up space formerly occupied by water, thus saving you one milk jug’s worth of water every time you flush.

2. Turn your water heater down to the lowest acceptable temperature.
Set the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees. Many water heaters come from the factory preset higher. If you find you are running out of hot water, slowly adjust the temperature until you find the lowest one that suits your needs.

3. Stop watering that lawn!
Seriously, dead lawns are so in right now. Okay, okay. Maybe you can’t stop watering your lawn or garden, but you can help it need less water. For gardens, mixing a spongelike material like peat moss in with the dirt will help your soil retain water. Mulch can also help keep the soil from drying out. For lawns and gardens both, water them deeply but less often, and only during particularly hot or dry spells. Brief and frequent watering encourages shallow roots, which will actually make your plants weaker and easily killed by a single dry spell that coincides with your week of vacation.

4. Turn off the water when you aren’t using it.
We all turn off the water when we are completely done with it, but how many of us leave the water running while we shave or brush our teeth? If a family of four brushes their teeth for two minutes a day, twice a day, then the faucets are running for almost two extra hours each week.

5. Take showers instead of baths.
Showers use considerably less water than baths. Unless, of course, you take hour long showers. Try to keep your showers under ten minutes, and shave afterward in the sink.

6. Fill up the washing machine.
A load of laundry uses an average of 55 gallons of water. Add in extra rinse cycles, and it can use even more. Make the most of your water usage, and only wash full loads of laundry.

HEATING AND COOLING
1. Insulate your home.
For most people, this entails sealing the drafts around windows and doors, as well as providing adequate attic insulation and ventilation. In an older house, the heat loss from drafty windows can be equal to leaving a single window open all the time, so get yourself a tube of clear caulk and some weatherstripping and seal up those gaps! If your attic could use some extra insulation on the floor, add it, and make sure that you don’t block any vents along the eaves of the roof. Exhaust fans can help keep your attic cool and dry, as well as prolonging the life of your roof.

2. Install window film.
UV blocking window film can block a good portion of the UV rays and heat that come through your windows. While tinted versions are available, window film can also be completely clear. In the winter, window film can help retain heat.

3. Use a programmable thermostat.
Programmable thermostats are relatively inexpensive, and can save you lots of money. Set the heat lower during the night (you are sleeping, you won’t notice!) and during times when no one is home. Of course, keeping your house a few degrees cooler in winter and warmer in summer will help too.

4. Use ceiling fans during the summer.
Set the ceiling fan on “suck” instead of “blow”, and you will pull cool air up from the floor. Save your air conditioner for those truly unbearable days.

5. Consider installing a whole house fan.
Whole house fans are powerful fans installed in the attic hatchway. During the evening, when the temperature cools off, you can use them to quickly replace the hot, stale air in your home with fresh, cool night air. Just make sure your windows are open if you turn on the fan, or the suction can blow out your pilot lights and suck air the wrong way down your chimney!

OTHER TIPS
1. Adjust your fridge and freezer settings, and keep your fridge full.
Appliances that heat or cool generally draw the most power. For food safety, keep your fridge at least 40 degrees or cooler. If you keep your fridge full, it will have to work less to recool things when you open the door. (If you don’t feel like having a fridge full of food, use gallons of water.)

2. Dry your clothes outside during warmer weather.

Using some or all of these tips can help save you a considerable chunk of change on your utility bills. Invest that money wisely and buy yourself a sailboat when you retire! Or you could always blow it all on new shoes and fancy haircuts…

Popularity: 21% [?]