Let's hear your tips for saving money on utility bills!

[MTL_4runner]

I know this whole global warming thing has been stealing the headlines lately and some of us agree with the science and some don't....well, who cares, we can debate that on another thread. All of us know that conserving energy (gas, electricity, firewood, etc) or water or any other resource for that matter helps the environment (and inevitably ourselves via lower costs). So I want to hear your tips on how you do more with less at home.

Ones that come to mind for me right away are.....


Installed CFL bulbs everywhere
Installed new 7-day programmable digital thermostats (since we're on elec baseboard heat)
Insulated the attic to R40

[bamachem]

We have electric programmable thermostats upstairs and down. We also have blinds on all window so we can keep them shut during the day in the summer to keep the UV heat to a minimum and we can open them in the winter to help keep the house warm if the Sun is shining bright. We also use ceiling fans to help circulate the air, and I keep the circulation fan for the HVAC running all the time. This helps to keep the temp in the house balanced. We have a NG water heater, so I haven't put a timer on it, yet.

[Elton]

my apartment stays nice and warm as the shop down stairs keeps there heater on but i dont pay for utility's anyways

[waskillywabbit]

Some possible ideas for saving energy:

-Solar powered hot water heater
-Insulate around outlets
-Ceiling fans (up in winter, down in summer)
-Shades/blinds/awnings
-Double paned windows
-Storm windows and doors
-Proper weatherstripping around your doors (check this at night with a flashlight and you'll be surprised how many air gaps you have and places for bugs to crawl right in)
-Flourescent bulbs inside and out
-Programmable thermostats
-Turn off lights when you leave the room
-Use lower wattage bulbs

:guitar:

[Seanz0rz]

in the winter time, rewear shirts to reduce water and electricity useage.
5 minute showers
motion detectors for light switches. thats a great one, esp if you have kids.
insulation in walls, attic isnt the only thing that needs to be insulated. my house has no wall insulation, so in lue of ripping the stucco off and insulating it, we are planting lots of shade trees and vines to grow on the arbors around the house.

[Bob98SR5]

these are great tips! now that i work for an electricity utility, there are many programs available to *manage* your utility bill. the best thing to do is to call your utility company and ask them what kind of programs they have to save on energy bills

one of the more popular programs is flat billing. they look at 12 months of your usage and divide by 12. that is your bill each month, regardless if you go over or under. this way, you konw exactly what you'll be paying each month and can budget for it. the last 12th month, you either get a rebate or you pay the extra.

alot of the larger utilities and some of the smaller ones are going to install digital meters on homes. this will allow the utilities to monitor usage. and if you are willing to allow the utility to shut down your AC or heater for a few hrs, you'll get reduced billing---or so the idea goes.

anyways, call your utitily/energy provider and just ask what programs they have

bob

[slosurfer]

Cut back on time spent on toyota forums!

[Tanto]

^ LOL

Everything gets unplugged except the refrigerator when nobody's going to be there for extended periods of time.

[Robinhood4x4]

We've got a big industrial size fan that we fire up in the evening when the outside cools off but the inside is still hot. Put it in a window or a screen door and face it so it blows OUT. Crack open windows all over the house and the fan will blow out the hot air and suck in the cold air outside. The fan needs to be powerful enough that you feel a current of air when you walk into the room with the fan.

It's best to seal up around the fan as best you can so air doesn't leak back around. I use a piece of cardboard to cover up the remainder of the window or door. It doesn't look rednecky at all. :hillbill:

[MTL_4runner]

one of the more popular programs is flat billing. they look at 12 months of your usage and divide by 12. that is your bill each month, regardless if you go over or under. this way, you konw exactly what you'll be paying each month and can budget for it. the last 12th month, you either get a rebate or you pay the extra.

This is exactly the way we have it set up because otheriwse summer months the electric bill might be $75 while in winter it could be as high as $400 when you get months of -20 or -30 weather (because of the crappy electric baseboard heat up here). With the flat rate billing we pay about $180-190 per month and it makes it alot easier to budget for during the year.

Great tips guys, keep em coming! :thumbup:

[Bob98SR5]

We've got a big industrial size fan that we fire up in the evening when the outside cools off but the inside is still hot. Put it in a window or a screen door and face it so it blows OUT. Crack open windows all over the house and the fan will blow out the hot air and suck in the cold air outside. The fan needs to be powerful enough that you feel a current of air when you walk into the room with the fan.

It's best to seal up around the fan as best you can so air doesn't leak back around. I use a piece of cardboard to cover up the remainder of the window or door. It doesn't look rednecky at all. :hillbill:


steve,

in our last apt, we did that too, but we used box fans and put it on the window sill. b/c i was all about efficiency, i put two hooks on either side of the sill. a string secured the box fan from falling out. one fan would blow the hot air out and the toher in. korean redneck engineering at its finest :hillbill: but same principle as you are talking about.

bob

[Paul H.]

I keep my thermostat at 77* during the summer and 69* winter. I always cring when I hear that people keep theirs at 72* year round and never open the windows.
My ceiling fans run all the time and I use CFL's all through the house.

[oly884]

dang, you guys are living large, i keep the thermostat at 60 in the winter, and off from april till october.

[Robinhood4x4]

We're usually too cheap to use the heater, but we can do that in CA (and now in AZ). Last year it got so cold in the house that I could see my breath.

[dlbrunner]

I used my heat for only about a week this winter (Phoenix). I am a polar bear though, I will put on layers and am still comfy

Replacing bulbs with fluorescent

I do the Fan thing, blow the hot out at night, seal up during the day.

programmable Thermostat in summer

Insulation and attic fans are next, in preparation of getting a new A/C unit. Mine is like 20 years old and on borrowed time. I really want to get a swamp cooler also, for the months of june and September when the humidity is not too high, but it is still hot at night.

My house was built in the 50's so it is an energy hog. Single pane windows, crappy door seals old insulation etc... It had no ceiling fans when i bought it. I have no idea how the family before me dealt with that. I have put in 3 so far and have a few more to do.

money and time....

the next house I buy will be solar...

[Seanz0rz]

our house was a track in 59. no wall insulation, about 3 inches in the attic, probably put in after it was built. there were 2 ceiling fans when we bought the house, both didnt work well. i have since installed a ceiling fan in every room except the bathrooms, thats 8 fans total. helps so much with the house, but when its 115 outside, it just doenst help alot. this summer we are installing an evaporative cooler as most of our heat is dry heat, being in the desert and all.