Tips to Lower Your Water & Electricity Bills

There’s nothing as annoying as having to spend a considerable amount of your income on utility bills. You know, I used to regard utility bills as a sort of evil because, with the rate at which it kept building up, I may never save up enough money to get other things done. All thanks to them, I’ve less money to spare for groceries, dresses, and other things I’d have loved to purchase.

All of that changed the moment I decided to make an effort to conserve energy in my home. You needed to have seen the look of relief on my face as I watched the cost of my utility bills drastically reduce. You call it energy conservation tips, I call it getting rid of utility bills. Whichever you think it is, I’ll be sharing with you some tips that helped me cut down energy consumption in my home.

Regulate/ lower your water heater.

Most times, at purchase, you have your water heater set to about 140°F, but I’m here to tell you that regulating your water heater to about 120°F is fine. Having your water heater set to about 120°F will help reduce the build-up of minerals in your heater as well as corrosion of your pipes. Regulating your water heater helps reduce heat losses and water consumption. Making use of a water heater at 140°F puts you at risk of scalding. For the sake of safety and energy conservation purposes, water heated at 120°F is considered suitable for many households. And for the records, regulating your water heater helps you save about four to twenty-two percent (4% – 22%) of energy per annum.

Observe your water usage.

The goal is to checkmate consumption, yeah? Definitely, keeping tabs on your water consumption is necessary. You can do well to monitor your water bills to ensure that the usage of water is not fluctuating. And yes, observe leakages as well. If you’re going to be conserving water, you have to make sure there are no leaks and that some amount of water is not going to waste. So darling, fix those leakages as soon as you notice them, and don’t forget to monitor the water bills.

Be intentional about conservation.

Beyond running down to the store to purchase energy-saving appliances, there is a whole lot more you can do to cut down energy consumption. For starters, be sure to put off devices when they’re not in use. And yes, that includes your tap too. Put off the tap while you’re brushing and only open it when you need the water. The same thing should apply to your shower head too, plus having shorter showers won’t do anybody any harm. Also, it would help if you learned to fill up the bathtub at once before taking your bath.

Don’t just turn off your appliances, unplug them. While it is common for you to put off your devices to possibly conserve energy and for safety precautions, you’ll be doing more when you unplug your electronics. Even after putting off your appliances, they still draw up little power when you do not disconnect them. You may think it’s low energy, but hey, it’s building up your utility bills. On the contrary, you may want to consider purchasing power strips to save you the effort of unplugging your electronics. These days, you even have smart power strips available, making things easier. Cutting off phantom energy saves about 5% or more of your annual energy usage.

Install sufficient attic and wall insulation.

You’re definitely wondering how insulation must be relevant to energy conservation, but I was hoping you could follow through with my explanation, so you understand how this works. Insulation helps cut down heat exchange through surfaces, the surfaces being your wall and attic in this case. By ensuring proper insulation, you’re able to reduce warm air escaping during winter and the cold air, also avoiding your home during summer. This means your home holds onto the treated air from your HVAC system and helps your HVAC run less often. That’s cutting down a chunk of energy consumption. I mean, it’s only normal for air to escape from warmer to colder areas, but with proper insulation, you can keep this in check; the basic idea being that insulation reduces the quantity of energy required for heating and cooling in your home.

Check against window and door drafts.

Every house most often than not has drafts. Drafts in windows, doors, and other places will contribute to heat loss from your home in winter and infiltration of warm air into your home during summer. At the end of the day, drafts increase the amount of energy required for heating and cooling in your home. Air leaks and drafts in your windows or doors can be solved by purchasing insulating strips from a hardware store. Some DIY draft stoppers are also available for you to make use of.

Purchase energy-efficient appliances.

Voila! The part you must have been waiting for – Energy-efficient appliances may cost more than the traditional ones upfront. Still, considering the cost implications of electricity needed to power traditional appliances, the energy-efficient models come off as cheaper in the long term. Before purchasing energy-saving appliances, be sure to consider purchasing energy star products. For example, by replacing your energy-saving incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) or light-emitting diodes (LED) bulbs, you’re able to save up more money from energy saving in the long run. This is because CFL and LED bulbs save up more energy (they use up only about 30% of the energy of incandescent light bulbs) and last up to ten times longer than the incandescent light bulbs.

Additional Energy Conservation Tips: 

• Installation of a programmable thermostat to cut down heating costs.
• Regular cleaning of air filters as dirty filters consume more energy.
• Air drying dishes instead of making use of the heated dryer in the dishwasher.
• Insulation of hot water pipes.
• Making use of natural light when possible.
• Doing the laundry in bulk.

This article was written by Water Replacement Mason, www.waterheaterreplacementmason.com