How To Save On Electricity And Gas Bills
In today's economy, how to save on electricity and gas bills is a regular consideration. If you are like me, a semi-new owner of a classic older home that requires regular maintenance, you probably don’t have a lot of money to invest into replacing all the windows in your house or switching those old energy wasting appliances out for more current, energy efficient models. Even though you’d like to be more earth-friendly, trying to figure out how to save on your utilities without the initial investment capital things like replacing windows or appliances requires can be a challenge. However, there are many simple things you can do that require only small monetary investments upfront, even in a big house---but that will lead to much greater savings down the road.
When trying to figure out how to save on electricity and gas bills in your home, the first thing you usually need to assess is what, exactly, is using up all the electricity or gas, and what your budget for improvements is. Some energy companies, like Xcel Energy, have online home energy analyzers, programs that let you input information from your energy bill, along with information about light fixtures and appliances in your home. These programs then create customized reports that tell you approximately what amount of your home’s energy cost is used by which appliances, and how much you could save by investing in a new appliances perhaps such as portable power generators. By looking at your customized report, you can see whether or not you should put your budget into a new dishwasher (for example), or spread it out over several smaller projects.
If you don’t want to go through all of the trouble of inputting information into a home energy analyzer program in order to learn how to save, there are a few things that just about every type of home can do in order save energy without spending a lot of front. The following is a list of six inexpensive ways to reduce electricity bills and other energy costs:
1) Replace your current light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. These bulbs cost slightly more than other light bulbs, but they will save you money in the long run in two ways—they use less energy and they last longer. There are light bulb savings calculators online that will show you how much you can save by doing just this.
2) Replace your showerhead with a low-flow showerhead—which will result in savings to both your energy bill and your water bill. Some energy companies will send you a relatively cheap low-flow showerhead for free, but other models can be purchased inexpensively at any hardware store as well.
3) Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket, sold at any hardware store. You will need aluminum tape to do so, and maybe an extra set of hands, but overall the insulation blanket is quick and easy to install and will reduce heat loss from your water heater.
4) Change your laundry and dishwashing habits. Does that shirt really need to be washed after being worn only once? Do you really need to dry clothes or dishes all the way, or can you let them air dry? Make sure either washer is full before running and always wash your clothes on cold.
5) Seal window leaks around your home. Hardware stores sell inexpensive kits for this purpose—this can help reduce your energy loss, while being much less expensive to implement than new windows.
6) Substitute capacitors that save on electric bills for more expensive to operate ones.
Just follow these six simple steps, and you’ll see how to can save on electricity and gas bills in the future. Make sure to always be on the look-out for any electricity saving devices that might be around in the local shops.
