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Monday, February 9, 2009

How to save on monthly utilities

With a global recession in full swing and the US on the brink of a depression, it's more important than ever to save where-ever possible. Obviously the first place to cut back is excessive spending. Date nights, extravagant gifts, digital toys, new (or new to you) cars are eliminated from the budget almost immediately. Deals are sought at grocery stores, thrift shops and everywhere in between. Coupons are clipped, clearance racks are pick through, all in an effort to save as much as possible. We've done all these things in our house to cut back the expenses plus we've take measures to reduce our monthly utility bills.
Here are a few of the things we've done:
  • Washing laundry in cold water
  • Drying till clothes are 'almost' dry then hanging them to finish drying
  • Dishes are air dried
  • Light switches turned off in every unoccupied room
  • CFL bulbs have been placed in all the light fixtures and lamps
  • Lamps are used in the daytime and the overhead lights are used when the sun starts to set
  • Digital thermostat was installed to better control CH&A (which will lower our natural gas bill too)
  • Curtains opened during the day to allow sun to naturally heat the room while they're closed at night to keep the heat in
  • Outlet timers placed on TV's, lamps, etc to completely disconnect power at night & other times the item's not normally used
  • Chargers and other irregularly used appliances are either unplugged when not in use or plugged into power strip and turned off when not used
  • 20 oz empty bottle filled with sand placed in a toilet's reservoir tank reduces the overall water used after each flush-We don't have a water efficient toilet!
  • Turn water off when brushing teeth
  • Keep clean air filters in the CH&A unit
  • Hang towels to air dry after showers and wash after every other use

The things we're working toward:
  • Heat is currently set to 74 but I'm gradually moving it to 68 for the winter and the AC is hardly used in the summer since it's so mild here but it'll be set to 72 in the summer
  • An outdoor weather proof timer for the outlet outside we use to plug the car in. The timer will be set to turn on 3 hours before we plan to use the car to give it ample time to warm the engine!
  • I'd like to find some insulation remnant and wrap our hot water heater so it won't have to run so hard to keep the water hot.
  • Speaking of hot water heaters, hubby needs to figure out how to set the temperature to around 120. Water will be hot enough for showers and dish washing but not so hot to over-work my hot water heater.
I'm sure I could go on and on but these are the things we're actively working toward! What other things are you doing to to save on your monthly bills?

1 Smart Sayings:

Discount Designer Clothes said...

Thats an interesting article, will sure come back to see more post on your blog.

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