Think about something for a second. When was the last time that you walked out to your mailbox, looked at your electricity or water bill and found yourself smiling at the amount that you had to pay? Although paying for energy is simply a fact of life, we’re pretty sure that you can agree with us when we say that it’s definitely something that we want to use as little of our money on as possible.
That’s why we wanted to provide you with a handy list of five full-proof ways that you can conserve resources at home so that you can save money on your energy costs. Sure initially, it might sound too good to be true, but if you apply even just a couple of these tips, we can guarantee that your bills will decrease within a matter of weeks.
Turn off the water when you’re not using it. Here’s a tip that our mothers taught us when we were young children. When you’re washing your face and brushing your teeth, make sure to turn off of the water until you need to rinse off. This tip also applies to washing your car because if you leave the hose running while you’re applying soap to your vehicle, you can easily find yourself wasting literally gallons of water. So yes, be sure to turn off your hose too.
Let things air dry. There aren’t too many homes that don’t have a dishwasher and washer and dryer unit. But when it comes to drying your dishes and clothes, who said that you had to always rely on your appliances? When it comes to your dishes, they will be perfectly fine drying overnight and in the summer months, rather than putting your clothes in the dryer, how about stringing them on a line outside, instead? That will be sure to save you at least a couple of bucks in energy costs.
Use your ceiling fans more often. Here’s something that you can do to keep the rooms in your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter: turn on your ceiling fans. In the summer time, it will help to circulate the cool air that’s coming from your HVAC unit. In the winter season, by turning your fans to rotate counterclockwise, it will pull the heat down from your ceiling so that you won’t have to turn your thermostat up.
Do some upcyling. When we have clothes that no longer fit us, it’s a natural inclination to either throw them out or give them away. While donating them to a thrift store or Goodwill is actually an excellent idea, upcycling is a good thing to do too. For instance, if you have some pants that have gotten too short, cut them up to your knees and instantly they’ve become Bermuda shorts. Speaking of pants, if you have any jeans that are too worn to wear or give away, did you know that they actually have some home insulation benefits? That’s right. There are many people who use shredded jean material to insulate their attics.
Get a low-flow showerhead. One more thing that you can do in order to reduce your water bill each month is to invest in a low-flow showerhead. You can find a pretty good one for under $50 and it can literally save you gallons of water with each use. For more information on where to get a quality low-flow showerhead, contact a local home improvement store such as Home Depot or Lowe’s in your area.