Not Quite 100 Ways to Lower Your Energy/Utility Bill
Okay, so it’s actually 28 ways, but we’re going to add to them, right? Making wise
use of power is a major way you can impact your budget and our world with just a
few simple lifestyle changes. With oil sources dwindling and fossil fuels funneling
money into terrorists’ pockets, frugality in this area makes not just fiscal and
environmental sense, but political sense as well. Sage mommies know that little
things add up in big ways.
Water Heaters:
1. Turn your water heater to the lowest comfortable setting and wrap it in a
water heater blanket to keep that heat inside where it belongs.
2. In my house, a ten minute shower is plenty. Set a timer for five minutes.
When it dings, knock on your water-hog’s bathroom door and remind him that he
needs to finish up. Set it again for four minutes. Hey, it took at least a minute to
hike down the stairs and back, right? At the end of the time, tell the kid he needs to
turn off the water. Offer assistance if necessary. Warning: I do not recommend
using this strategy with husbands.
3. Do you regularly need a tank full of hot water at 3 AM? If not, put a timer on
your water heater.
Laundry:
4. Hang out the laundry whenever possible. If it gets stiff or wrinkly, put it in the
dryer for a few minutes with a damp dryer sheet.
5. Wear it twice, or three times if you can. I have a cycle: the first time I wear
jeans is reserved for a public trip, the second time around the house. If they still
look okay, I might squeeze another day out of them, especially if it is cleaning day.
Start looking critically at every item before you toss it in the hamper: pajamas,
sweatshirts, and anything worn over another garment are all fair game. You will
save at least a load of laundry every week, which adds up quickly. Note: this
doesn’t apply to undergarments.
6. Wash your clothing in cold water unless it is really, really dirty. No, you don’t
need the special detergent.
Lighting:
7. Trade your old light bulbs for the new compact fluorescent ones that use
75% less energy and supposedly (but not in my experience) last longer. They don’t
produce heat, which is a bonus in the summer. Many utility companies offer
occasional rebates or coupons to encourage this.
8. Install motion switches on your outside lights rather than leaving a porch
light running all night. If you really want to be an energy sage, install them on the
lights inside your home as well.
Climate Control:
9. Let Mother Nature warm or cool your house. In spring and summer, open
windows at night and in early mornings to let in the cool air. As soon as it starts to
warm up, close the windows and cover them with a curtain or blind. In autumn and
winter, do the opposite: keep the house battened down in the evening and opened
up during the day. There are going to be days when it never gets warm or cool
enough to air out the house, but you’ll save energy dollars (and appreciably
improve the air quality) during more temperate times.
10. Can you live with a warmer house in the summer? A cooler house in
winter? When I lived in Northern California, the land of extreme weather, I trained
my family to survive with an 80-82 degrees indoor temperature during warm
months and 55-57 degrees in the cold months. Your body was meant to live with
fluctuating weather and will adjust within a week or two.
11. Change the air filters in your heating and AC systems as often as
recommended.
12. During extreme temperatures, designate one or two rooms in your house
as the “warm room” or “cool room”. You can come up with fun names: the Icebox,
the Oven, Antarctica. Concentrate on keeping a comfortable temperature in these
rooms and forget the others. You can even use a space heater and turn off the
forced-air system entirely.
13. I had never heard of window quilts until I met a woman who made them,
but it’s a great idea. Make (or buy) quilts that match your décor and are a few
inches bigger than your window on each side. Then, tack them (or otherwise affix
them) over your window. They make the room cozy and dark, like being under a,
well, blanket.
14. This can be pricey at first, but consider geo-thermal climate control. I have
it and it saves us at least $100 a month on heating and/or air conditioning. Please,
don’t ask me how it works; all I know is that it has something to do with water and
pipes, and takes a few minutes to start once I turn it on.
15. Use your ceiling fans, and make sure they are spinning in the correct
direction. During summer you want the air to blow down. Otherwise you’re just
collecting warm air from the ceiling and pushing it into your living space.
16. Can you feel drafts or hot spots near your doors or windows? Caulking and
self-adhesive weather stripping can be found cheaply at any home improvement
store. You’re paying good money for that climate, so don’t let it escape out the
window.
17. Use a hot water bottle instead of heating bedrooms or using an electric
blanket.
General:
18. Use the smallest appliances you need. Do you need a theater-sized monolith
of a television, or will a 12-incher be big enough to watch Dr. Phil? He looks better
without high definition pores anyway. Likewise, does your family really need a side-
by-side fridge? Hint: if there are five or less people in your household, the answer
if probably NO.
19. Did you know that televisions and most electrical appliances continue to use
electricity even when they are turned off? Unplug the energy-suckers when you
aren’t using them. An easy way to do this is to group your entire entertainment
center onto one power strip.
20. Keep your freezers full; they run with less energy this way. Of course a frugal
mom’s freezer is probably already full of foods bought in bulk or on sale, plus the
fruits of her latest Once-A-Month-Cooking day, but if yours for some reason isn’t,
just throw milk jugs full of water in there. It makes a great start on emergency
preparedness as well.
21. Ask yourself: if you aren’t using it, why is it on? Think critically about how many
lights, televisions, and gadgets need to be running at any given time.
22. Don’t run the extra water heater on your dishwasher and always, always air dry.
23. Set your computer so it turns to sleep mode after a half-hour or less of sitting
unused.
24. Use your microwave. Drastically shorter cooking times mean less energy used
and it won’t heat up your house.
25. Cook in huge batches. This saves your oven the trouble of having to preheat
more than once, and in warm weather saves your cooling system the trouble of
getting rid of all the heat the oven creates multiple times.
26. When you are cooking on a stovetop, use the smallest burner needed and
cover your pots so the heat doesn’t escape into the air. Some starchy foods (like
pasta, rice), can be covered tightly and turned off completely once the water comes
to a boil.
27. Charge your cell phone, PSP, Gameboy, or whatever in the car on errand day.
28. If you own a water bed, just know that it uses much more electric than the
standard, non-energy-consuming mattress. You also should know that the
seventies were over a few decades ago… (ducks)
Do you know a great way to save electricity that’s not here? Email me and I’ll be
happy to share it!
Okay, so it’s actually 28 ways, but we’re going to add to them, right? Making wise
use of power is a major way you can impact your budget and our world with just a
few simple lifestyle changes. With oil sources dwindling and fossil fuels funneling
money into terrorists’ pockets, frugality in this area makes not just fiscal and
environmental sense, but political sense as well. Sage mommies know that little
things add up in big ways.
Water Heaters:
1. Turn your water heater to the lowest comfortable setting and wrap it in a
water heater blanket to keep that heat inside where it belongs.
2. In my house, a ten minute shower is plenty. Set a timer for five minutes.
When it dings, knock on your water-hog’s bathroom door and remind him that he
needs to finish up. Set it again for four minutes. Hey, it took at least a minute to
hike down the stairs and back, right? At the end of the time, tell the kid he needs to
turn off the water. Offer assistance if necessary. Warning: I do not recommend
using this strategy with husbands.
3. Do you regularly need a tank full of hot water at 3 AM? If not, put a timer on
your water heater.
Laundry:
4. Hang out the laundry whenever possible. If it gets stiff or wrinkly, put it in the
dryer for a few minutes with a damp dryer sheet.
5. Wear it twice, or three times if you can. I have a cycle: the first time I wear
jeans is reserved for a public trip, the second time around the house. If they still
look okay, I might squeeze another day out of them, especially if it is cleaning day.
Start looking critically at every item before you toss it in the hamper: pajamas,
sweatshirts, and anything worn over another garment are all fair game. You will
save at least a load of laundry every week, which adds up quickly. Note: this
doesn’t apply to undergarments.
6. Wash your clothing in cold water unless it is really, really dirty. No, you don’t
need the special detergent.
Lighting:
7. Trade your old light bulbs for the new compact fluorescent ones that use
75% less energy and supposedly (but not in my experience) last longer. They don’t
produce heat, which is a bonus in the summer. Many utility companies offer
occasional rebates or coupons to encourage this.
8. Install motion switches on your outside lights rather than leaving a porch
light running all night. If you really want to be an energy sage, install them on the
lights inside your home as well.
Climate Control:
9. Let Mother Nature warm or cool your house. In spring and summer, open
windows at night and in early mornings to let in the cool air. As soon as it starts to
warm up, close the windows and cover them with a curtain or blind. In autumn and
winter, do the opposite: keep the house battened down in the evening and opened
up during the day. There are going to be days when it never gets warm or cool
enough to air out the house, but you’ll save energy dollars (and appreciably
improve the air quality) during more temperate times.
10. Can you live with a warmer house in the summer? A cooler house in
winter? When I lived in Northern California, the land of extreme weather, I trained
my family to survive with an 80-82 degrees indoor temperature during warm
months and 55-57 degrees in the cold months. Your body was meant to live with
fluctuating weather and will adjust within a week or two.
11. Change the air filters in your heating and AC systems as often as
recommended.
12. During extreme temperatures, designate one or two rooms in your house
as the “warm room” or “cool room”. You can come up with fun names: the Icebox,
the Oven, Antarctica. Concentrate on keeping a comfortable temperature in these
rooms and forget the others. You can even use a space heater and turn off the
forced-air system entirely.
13. I had never heard of window quilts until I met a woman who made them,
but it’s a great idea. Make (or buy) quilts that match your décor and are a few
inches bigger than your window on each side. Then, tack them (or otherwise affix
them) over your window. They make the room cozy and dark, like being under a,
well, blanket.
14. This can be pricey at first, but consider geo-thermal climate control. I have
it and it saves us at least $100 a month on heating and/or air conditioning. Please,
don’t ask me how it works; all I know is that it has something to do with water and
pipes, and takes a few minutes to start once I turn it on.
15. Use your ceiling fans, and make sure they are spinning in the correct
direction. During summer you want the air to blow down. Otherwise you’re just
collecting warm air from the ceiling and pushing it into your living space.
16. Can you feel drafts or hot spots near your doors or windows? Caulking and
self-adhesive weather stripping can be found cheaply at any home improvement
store. You’re paying good money for that climate, so don’t let it escape out the
window.
17. Use a hot water bottle instead of heating bedrooms or using an electric
blanket.
General:
18. Use the smallest appliances you need. Do you need a theater-sized monolith
of a television, or will a 12-incher be big enough to watch Dr. Phil? He looks better
without high definition pores anyway. Likewise, does your family really need a side-
by-side fridge? Hint: if there are five or less people in your household, the answer
if probably NO.
19. Did you know that televisions and most electrical appliances continue to use
electricity even when they are turned off? Unplug the energy-suckers when you
aren’t using them. An easy way to do this is to group your entire entertainment
center onto one power strip.
20. Keep your freezers full; they run with less energy this way. Of course a frugal
mom’s freezer is probably already full of foods bought in bulk or on sale, plus the
fruits of her latest Once-A-Month-Cooking day, but if yours for some reason isn’t,
just throw milk jugs full of water in there. It makes a great start on emergency
preparedness as well.
21. Ask yourself: if you aren’t using it, why is it on? Think critically about how many
lights, televisions, and gadgets need to be running at any given time.
22. Don’t run the extra water heater on your dishwasher and always, always air dry.
23. Set your computer so it turns to sleep mode after a half-hour or less of sitting
unused.
24. Use your microwave. Drastically shorter cooking times mean less energy used
and it won’t heat up your house.
25. Cook in huge batches. This saves your oven the trouble of having to preheat
more than once, and in warm weather saves your cooling system the trouble of
getting rid of all the heat the oven creates multiple times.
26. When you are cooking on a stovetop, use the smallest burner needed and
cover your pots so the heat doesn’t escape into the air. Some starchy foods (like
pasta, rice), can be covered tightly and turned off completely once the water comes
to a boil.
27. Charge your cell phone, PSP, Gameboy, or whatever in the car on errand day.
28. If you own a water bed, just know that it uses much more electric than the
standard, non-energy-consuming mattress. You also should know that the
seventies were over a few decades ago… (ducks)
Do you know a great way to save electricity that’s not here? Email me and I’ll be
happy to share it!
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