Slash Your Power Bills Without Big Changes or Big Investments
By Teresa Ambord
The cost of home heating and electricity doesn't have to break the bank. A few years ago, the West Coast states experienced extreme price hikes and power shortages. Some residents saw their utility bills triple that first winter, while others watched their bills actually decrease from pre-crisis levels. Then again, some smart utility shoppers don't wait for a crisis to make them energy-wise. There's no trick to cutting your power bills, and there's no real sacrifice. Minor changes make a big difference, and most are cheap or cost-free.
Here's what you can do:
- For small families, don't use your full-size oven if a toaster oven will do the job.
- During hot weather, avoide your big oven as much as possible. In the winter, after you're finished baking, turn off the oven and leave the oven door open a few inches to take advantage of the warmth.
- Close off rooms that you don't use much so that the other rooms heat or cool more easily. You might have to close ducts too, depending on your heating system.
- If nobody is home all day, don't turn the heat off completely. Just set it a little lower, then adjust it when you get home. Of course, do the opposite with cooling. If you turn off the systems completely, your savings will be lost when your heater or cooler have to work extra hard to normalize the temperature. In the meantime, you freeze or roast.
- If you get chilly while watching TV or reading, instead of cranking up the heat, use a lap blanket. They are much more cozy.
- Wash clothing in cold water. If your clothes need extra help, spray them with a pre-treater, or just fill the washer, then turn it off and let clothes soak in soapy water for an hour or so.
- Use the dryer only when you have to. Clotheslines are great in good weather, and in bad weather, a wooden clothes drying rack costs only about ten bucks. If the clothes end up stiff, when they're almost dry, toss them in the dryer for ten minutes.
- A water heater blanket insulates your water heater from all kinds of weather. It's cheap and easy to install.
- If you have single-pane windows, consider using plastic sheeting to insulate them. Or better still, make window quilts. Window quilts are prettier, and if you use a tension rod, the can be rolled up or down. When they are down, they create a pocket of air that keeps cold windowpanes from drawing heat out of your house.
- Install night-lights. Here's why: After dark, family members might make a dozen quick trips into the kitchen or bathroom or bedrooms... which means flipping on overhead lights each time. But if there is a night light already on, that is often enough. You can even take a shower by night-light, unless you're shaving. In fact, it's more relaxing. Night-lights cost about a buck and last forever.
- For overhead lights, install compact fluorescent bulbs. They use much less power. They are expensive, so you might consider prioritizing the purchase so that the most used lights get replaced first.
- Ceiling fans help normalize the temperature whether it's hot or cold out. You just have to reverse the blade movement depending on the season.
- Install an attic fan to pull hot air out of the house.
- In hot weather, installing a security screen door allows you to leave your front door open in the evening and while you sleep. They resist 300-400 pounds of pressure, so once locked, they are probably safter than your regular front door, and they allow you to enjoy the cool night air for free.