10 Easy Ways to Save Money on Energy and Resource Costs!
Saving Energy inside your home is one of the cheapest and easiest ways you can start going Green, and also increase the amount of money in your savings account every month! Most of the figures below represent utility and resource use for a family of four
Save Water by Limiting your Time in the Shower!
Fact: A Typical shower of 12-14 minutes uses more than 24-30 Gallons of Water!
Get yourself a small kitchen timer and set it to 3 minutes! I know, not alot of time… but more than enough to rinse, lather, and rinse the soap off again! When the timer goes off, you know you need to get moving and finish your shower!
If you want to go further, install low use shower heads, or even a quick water shut off head, that lets you shut off the water while you soap up your body and shampoo your hair!
Reduce the Amount of Water in Each Flush!
In most homes, the toilet uses more water than any other thing! Older toilets use approximately 3.5 Gallons per Flush! Since the mid nineties, the Govt has regulated that all new toilets MUST be 1.6 GPF (Gallons per flush) You can usually find this inside the lid of your own toilet at home.
If you have the older model, just fill an old 1-gallon milk container with water, and put it into your toilet tank. You will save 1 gallon per flush!
Wear Heavier Clothing and Use Towels Twice between Washings!
Every bathroom has a towel rack… make sure you use each towel twice before tossing it into the laundry basket! Blue jeans, sweatshirts, and other heavier outer clothing items can also be worn more than one time between washings! Not only will you save on water usage… but your savings on detergent will rise also!
Turn Off Lights when you Leave a Room!
Our fathers used to cuss us out for leaving lights on in a room and we would always say… but I’m coming right back! Guess what, that 3-5 minutes you were gone can significantly add up over the course of a month if everyone in your home does it! Just imagine the annual savings!
None of us would even consider pulling the gas nozzle out of our gas tanks and letting it run, while we ran into the store for a quick minute! Treat electricity the same way!
Turn off your PC at Night!
If you are like most of us, we let our PC manage its own power settings, going into a low power usage mode when not being used. At night, when you know you won’t be using it any longer, turn that sucker off! Even the small LED lights use energy!
Replace your Bulbs with the Newer Compact Fluorescent Bulbs!
Yes, they will cost a bit more out of the gate… but not only will they last 7-10 times LONGER than standard bulbs, they give off much less heat and use less than half the energy to operate!
Start with the rooms you use light in most often. Kitchens, livings rooms, Dining Rooms etc. These are the areas you have the lights on most often and will have the highest impact!
Insulate your Drafty Home on the Cheap!
With winter right in front of us, now is the time to seal any drafts in your doors and windows! We wrote a short article last month on DIY Home Insulation, and the methods outlined in that article can all be done very inexpensively! Along with door and windows, don’t forget to check your attics and crawl spaces for loose and old insulation!!
Turn Down your Thermostat just 1 Degree!
I HATE being cold, and i am sure everyone else does also! By dropping your thermostat from 68 to 67 degrees, you will not only save a great amount on your own energy use, you will reduce your homes carbon footprint and help the environment at the same time!
Put on a sweater… open your curtains and let the sun come in during the daytime!
Install a Programmable Thermostat
So maybe you just don’t want to turn your heat down that 1 degree, what else can you do? Install a Programmable Thermostat that controls the heating and cooling while you are not at home! You can buy one for less than $100, which will pay itself back in the first year of use!
If you go to work every day at 8am – tell the thermostat to drop the temp to 65 from 8am-4pm every day during the heating season! At night, set it to drop to 65 from 11pm to 5am, and throw an extra blanket on your bed! You will never notice the temp changes… except on your lower utility bills!
Lower your Hot Water Tank Temperature to 120 Degrees!
Most hot water tanks are set at 140+ degrees! Your tank, regardless of whether the water is running or not, maintains the water temp so it is always ready for you! By dropping yours to just 120 degrees, you will save a HUGE amount on heating the water when its not in use!
When the time comes to replace your hot water tank, go with one of the newer Tank-less Water Heaters on the market, which only heat the water on demand! They are 80% MORE efficient than current tank models!
The methods above are just a few of the ways you can see immediate savings in your home energy and utility use! What are methods do you use in your own home?
Further Resources and Websites
- Calculate your own Carbon Footprint
- Calculate Home Energy Savings in your Area
- 101 Easy Ways to Save Energy
- Department of Energy Home Savings Guide
Tankless water heaters are the best! We purchased a used one a few years ago for $400, and it paid for itself the first year of use. No feeling guilty for taking long showers anymore.
Another tip for saving enery: most of your laundry can be washed in cold water…even your whites. I have my hot water faucet to the washing machine turned off so it doesn’t get used accidentally.
Great site Mark, no wonder it is doing so well. A lot of thoughtful work has gone into it.
Adrienne
@ Adrienne -
Thanks for the kudos ont he site as well as the info on the tankless water heaters. I know they are becoming MUCH more popular here in NC, and I wont say we look forward to our old tank failing… but when it does, we already have a replacement model ready to go!
Great tip about using the cold water also!! We have 5 kids still at home, so 1-2 loads a day is the norm!
Mark