Reducing Your Utility Costs Has A Savings Benefit

During difficult financial times, we often begin to look out how we’re spending money. Cutting costs often means going out to eat less, wearing last summer’s wardrobe or settling for the generic brand. But you can also save a ton of money (and a ton of energy and water) just by paying closer attention to how you’re spending your time at home.

Replace conventional light bulbs with the new energy efficient light bulbs, they are four times as powerful and will last ten times as long.

Keep your thermostat set no higher than 68 degrees in winter and no lower than 70 degrees in summer (we have agreed on 72 degrees at my house). If you have ceiling fans, turn those on to increase air circulation throughout your home (this uses very little energy). In winter, every degree higher can raise heating costs by 3%. In summer, every degree lower can raise cooling costs by 6%.

Set your hot water heater temperature between 110 and 120 degrees. Having the temperature any higher is unnecessary and is wasted energy.

Stick to doing large loads of laundry which use about 21 gallons of water. Avoid doing several small loads, which each use about 14 gallons of water. By doing one large load instead of several small ones, you can save around 7 gallons of water. It might not seem like much, but over the course of a year, it will add up.

Don’t run the dishwasher unless it’s a full load and instead of using the heat cycle, let the dishes air dry.

Try taking shorter, cooler showers and if you just have to take a hot bath – try to limit it to once a week.