5 Ways We Save Money On Our Utilities
May
01
On June 1st Provo, Utah will be raising their electricity rate by 11%. It would be nice if utility rates could be like life insurance rates and we could lock in a rate for life but with inflation and advancing technology that is not realistic. It has been 22 years since Provo has increased their electricity rate which explains a large increase.
When you look at gas, water and electric rates, the cost of utilities in Utah is very low. When we lived in Washington state the amount we paid for water was about the same amount that we pay for electricity, water and waste here in Utah. And we did not even have a washing machine or a lawn to water in Washington while now we have a washing machine and a good size lawn to water.
Even with low rates, learning how to lower your utility bill is always beneficial. Here are some things that we do to keep our bill low:
- Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). They may be more pricey than incandescent but they last at least 5 years. We still use the same bulbs we got with our wedding gift cards over 5 years ago! CFL’s can save you more than $10 per light bulb per year. Watch for sales – I have seen CFL bulbs on sale for 99 cents.
- If you are not using an appliance unplug it. Electricity is still being drawn from an outlet with a plug in it even if the appliance is turned off. There are products that can stop the draw of electricity when your gadget is turned off – I would like to look into that for things like the oven and washing machine.
- To save on water only run a full load. This one is very obvious – running only a full load of laundry or dishes will help lower your bill. I do laundry twice a week and it can be tempting to just was the leftover clothes that don’t fit into the last wash but waiting for the next laundry day to add those clothes to a full load will save money.
- If you are using your dryer do all of your laundry during one day of the week or two days if one is not ideal for your situation. This way the heat of the dryer is streamlined and will save you money on your electric and or gas bill. Wash your laundry in cold water for even more energy savings.
- Line drying your clothes of course saves a lot more money than streamlining the energy from your dryer. We have a clothes rack in our backyard which is great for this. Some people line dry their clothes inside their house, this is not really ideal for me. Small house, two kids, no central heating but if it works for you it will save you even more.
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I try to do the laundry thing.
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May 3rd, 2010 at 1:49 am
Here are some other helpful tips for saving on water and laundry:
-get a shower timer! Scott’s younger cousins from Cali gave us a 3.5 minute shower timer (like an egg timer) that suctions to the shower tile. Having a timer makes you much more aware of the time and water that is wasted in the shower. Although I can never manage to shower in 3.5 minutes, I aim for 7 minutes which is better than my old habit of 15-20 minutes, if not more!
-I reuse my shower towel multiple times before washing it again. Less laundry, and besides….you’re super clean after showering so it’s not like the towel is getting really dirty.
-install a shower head that uses less water….that’s self explanitory.
-shave your legs in the sink or turn off the shower while you shave your legs. I find so much water is wasted and unneeded while you shave your legs. I either shave in the sink to use minimal water, or shave in the shower at the end with the water turned off but I keep a large plastic cup filled with water in the shower to dip my blade in and get off excess hair off the blade. Once finished shaving, rinse off and I’m done!
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Melissa Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 7:42 am
Those are really good ideas. I don’t think I could finish a shower in 3.5 minutes either but it would be interesting to get a timer and see how quickly I could finish.
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