So you want to save a bit more each month? Perhaps you are now looking and diving in to your bills and monthly spending deeper to find out where you can make your next 2% cut like we recommend?
Well, we wanted to offer these quick tips to save you money each month on your normal living expenses.
Our clean dishes in the dishwasher in the morning. If you follow our Be Intentional plan, your 15 minute night-time routine will ensure that this first tip is done a bit easier!
- Run your appliances like washer/dryer and dishwasher during non-peak hours. Not all, but many utility companies will offer discounts or charge less to run this appliances during non-peak hours. Those hours are typically 7pm to noon the next day. After this, it becomes peak hours because these are the times when most people are running these appliances. The main peak hours are 2-3 pm. Check with your local utility company to find out the peak and non-peak times. Some people have estimated nearly a 50% savings on these appliances, but of course this will all depend on your utility company.
- Hang dry your clothes. Your dryer is one of the bigger energy costs in your home – far more than your washer. In fact, nearly 10x’s more cost in running the dryer vs. the washer. Hang drying clothes both indoors and out will save big money and it’s quite easy to do! The average cost to run the dryer is .30-.40 per load. If you replaced line/hang drying for one load a day for a year, you could be saving $100 – $140 per year!!
- Keep your water heater at 120 degrees. Not only will you save more money, but you also reduce the risk of scalding! According to the EPA, you could literally be losing $36-$61 each year just by the standby heat losses when your temperature is above 120 – essentially the extra expense of keeping it that hot all day! They also estimate that on average it costs more than $400 to bring fresh water up to that high temperature on a yearly basis (or just over $1 a day!). Even better, when you go out of town, turn the water heater down to save a few more bucks. There is no reason to keep the standby water so hot while you are gone! So the savings here could be in the several hundreds (if you drain your water heater – which large families often do!). So in the end, you could be saving $400+ per year! Most households are already at 120 degrees, so you won’t necessarily see any more savings here – except by turning it down when you are gone. But be sure to check and be certain!
- Unplug your appliances when they are not in use. The biggest suckers of electricity are your electronics, but even small kitchen appliances are costing you to sit there plugged in! In fact, 75 percent of the electricity in the average home is consumed while the products are turned off, according to Energy Star. It is estimated that you can save $250 or more each year with this simple task! So which ones should you unplug when you are not using them? Well, here’s a list of suggestions!
- Computers: both desktop and laptop.
- Televisions – especially Plasma as they suck much more
- DVD players, VCRs, Wii, Other Gaming Systems
- Cable TV boxes
- Coffeemakers
- Lamps
- Toasters
- iPods and electronic gadgets that are using plug-in transformers
- Unplug phones, tablets and other handheld devices once they are charged
- Other kitchen appliances like rice cookers, crockpots, blenders, mixers and more that you are not currently using.
Please note, just simply turning these “off” does not stop the energy sucking! They have to actually be “unplugged!” With this trick and depending on how many appliances and electronics you unplug, you could be saving around $250+ per year!
In total, you could be saving $650+ annually which is around $54 a month!
*Obviously, these costs will vary greatly depending on house size, family size and usage (like if you are home all day vs. gone, etc.), but the point is that everyone can save money in the area of utilities with just some simple changes!
Photo Credits: Haviomin.info, entrustenergy.com, weblogs.variety.com
Janet Thaeler
Why can’t manufacturers make it so if something is turned off there is no electricity flowing? Or is that possible? I would go nuts trying to unplug everything. Surely there’s an app for that!! I once bought a device for my computer that shut it off without unplugging but it didn’t work.
Thanks for the tips!
Blog On,
Janet
Cassie
I don’t know if it is possible! We aren’t perfect about it ourselves. We do keep all of our small kitchen appliances unplugged except when using them. But everything else can be more challenging. We do, however, pretty much unplug everything when we leave town. It is just a matter of trying to cut easily where it works for you. Unplugging everything everyday is a quite cumbersome! But even one more than you are doing now!
Chris
I have computer monitors with switches that cut 100% power when turned off. The products do exist 🙂
MARY
You need a electronic 6-outlets with on/off switch.
AmyCat
If you unplug your TV/DVD stuff, you f*ck up their timers and mess up any chance of properly recording shows for later viewing. With many “electronic gadgets”, just leaving them unplugged drains their batteries, so you have to use the same amount of power sooner or later to recharge them.
Chris
I use a power bar and flick it off to turn off my tv, blue ray, wii, ps3 and ps4 so they aren’t in standby.
Mark
Some of this doesn’t jive:
In fact, 75 percent of the electricity in the average home is consumed while the products are turned off, according to Energy Star. It is estimated that you can save $250 or more each year with this simple task!
If this will cut use by 75%, if you unplug them 100% of the time, you save $250 *or more*. If 75% is equal to roughly $250, then the annual electric cost is somewhere under $500. My modest usage is $70 a month on average, so about $1000 a year which would make my annual cost $250 if I follow this 100%. Not buying it.
kevin J
A Energy star appliance saves SO much energy when used How can cost so much when turned OFF.