By Kristie Lorette
Summer is in full swing and the air conditioner is working overtime to keep you and your family cool. If you have kids running in and out to play in the warm sunshine, it may really be putting your AC to the test. It may also be emptying your wallet with an increase in energy bills. The good news is there are things you can and should do to not only save money on your energy bills, but also to help leave a slightly smaller carbon footprint on the environment.
7 Ways to Save Money on Energy Bills
There is no need to cringe every month when your utility bills shows up in the mail. Take these seven steps to reduce your energy use and keep your money from drying up in the summer, as well as other times of the year.
- Turn up the AC/Turn Down the Heat. The biggest appliance in your home that is sucking you dry of your money is the air conditioner and heater. By setting your thermostat to 78 degrees in the summer and 65 degrees in the winter, the AC and heater will kick on less often and cost you less money. When you’re not at home for extended periods of time, turn the AC up higher and heat down lower to keep it from kicking on while you’re gone. There is no need to heat or cool the home when nobody is there and it only takes a few moments when you return home to cool or warm the house again.
- Change the filter. It’s also important that you keep the filter in the AC and heater unit clean and free of dust and dirt. If you have a disposable air filter, be sure to change it once per month. If you have pets, the filter gets dirtier faster, so you may want to change it twice per month instead. Consider replacing your disposable filter with a reusable one to save you money on purchasing air filters. With a disposable filter, you simply have to wash the filter out once per month or every couple of weeks and return it to your unit. Keeping the filter clean helps your unit to keep from overworking, which saves money on your monthly energy bills and on paying repair bills if the unit breaks.
- Use fans. Fans cool people, not rooms, so use ceiling and portable fans to keep you and your family cool. Fans help to circulate the cool air in the summer so you may not have to turn your air down too low, which can save you money in the long run. It costs a lot less to run a fan than it does an entire AC unit. When you leave the room, turn the fans off.
- Let the dishwasher wash dishes. You can up to $70 per year by not washing or rinsing your dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher. Allow the dishwasher to do its job by not using hot water to rinse dishes off and then using hot water to wash the dishes again in the dishwasher. Most dishwashers do not require food particles to be rinsed from dishes, so let the dishwasher do its job.
- Be a smart clothes washer and dryer. Especially with all of the change of clothes that takes place in the summer, you may find yourself doing more laundry than ever before. While washing your clothes is a necessity, you can be smart about the way you go about it. First, always adjust the water level in your clothes washer to fit the amount of clothes in the unit. This avoids wasting water and saves you money on your water bill. Second, there is not a need to use hot water in order to kill germs if you use a detergent with a germ killer in it (most detergents have antibacterial agents now). Using cold water to wash your clothes will save you money on heating the water. Using your clothes dryer not only costs you more money to dry your clothes but it also heats up the house, which means you’re really putting your AC to work. Use the summer sun and heat to your advantage by hanging your clothes outside to dry in the warm sunshine. You can also use drying racks and hangers to dry clothes inside the house.
- Check insulation. Make sure that the cracks around your windows and doors that lead outside are properly sealed and insulated. This ensures that the cold air stays in during the summer and the hot air stays in during the winter. If your air is leaking outside then it’s like opening a window and throwing your money out of it.
- Use a convention/toaster oven. You have to eat, but nobody says you have to use the stove or oven to do it. Consider buying and using a convention or toaster oven instead. It costs less to heat up the small convention oven than the large oven and it doesn’t heat up the kitchen like the oven does. It not only saves you money on using the oven but it also saves you money from having to cool down the house again after cooking a big meal.
The summer can be a fun and exciting time, but not if you have heart failure every time you open your utility bill. Follow these seven steps to help you cut down on your utility bill, save energy and keep the money in your wallet rather than paying it to the electric company. Not to mention that while you’re saving money you’re also saving the environment.
7/31/2009
