On my other blog, we had more votes and the majority also voted more in the $80 and up category but here are the results from this blog's poll:
$0-35 | 0 (0%) |
$35-45 | 0 (0%) |
$45-60 | 0 (0%) |
$60-80 | 1 (33%) |
$80 and above | 2 (66%) |
We have 1400 square foot home and our energy costs are at the most - $60 a month. It used to be higher when we lived in a smaller, 700sq foot, 2 bedroom apartment believe it or not! I have found many things to do to save electricity and also moving into a place that is very well lit, saves on having to use the lights during the day! Here some things that we do to save on energy costs:
- Switch your light bulbs to the new energy saving bulbs. We did this a long time ago and noticed the difference in energy costs!
- Don't use lights during the day. We have skylights and they really do light up the house! I have 2 in my kitchen and never have to use the lights during the day (except the stove light). We then have one in our bathroom and once again, we don't have to use the lights in there during the day.
- Hang your clothes to dry. I hang my delicates/dress clothes on my shower rod. You can hang your towels, linens, and other clothes outside to dry if you wish. I do use the dryer for those because our landlord will not allow a clothes line attached to the storage buildings and I haven't bought the free standing one yet.
- Don't run the dishwasher unless its full. I only run my dishwasher 3-4 times a week, sometimes not even that much. I wait until its full before starting a wash most of the time. You can keep one side of the sink half full of hot water and soap to wash dishes throughout the day. I find that it stays warm for several hours if you start it with very hot water. Constantly filling up your sink - washing dishes and then draining it and doing it all over again all day will use more hot water, which will use more energy for your water heater. Also, cold water can wash not too dirty dishes. If you are worried about germs from not using hot scolding water to wash your dishes, then simply add a cap full of Clorox to your dishwater in the sink. Also, run the dishwasher at night when energy is cheaper - same goes for the washer/dryer although I don't practice that I know it would save us even more if I did! ;)
- Unplug chargers and electronics when not in use. Even if you are not charging your phone, ipod, etc - the charging unit still draws some sort of energy from the outlet.
- This is for the winter months - we keep our thermostat set at 66. 65 is the optimal sleeping temperature, so keeping it on 66 is what we have found works for us and saves energy than when we used to keep it at 69.
- In the Winter do your baking/oven use in the mornings to warm the house up and then in the Summer do it in the evenings.
