If you receive huge heating bills in the winter, and you’re spending big money on your water bill every month, chances are you can cut your costs by making simple adjustments around the house. Here are a few tips to cut utility costs at home:
Water
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 30% of daily water consumption in the U.S. is used outdoors, and that percentage may even double during warmer months. To save on lawn care and outdoor maintenance, check for leaks in your sprinkler system, don’t waste water on your driveway or sidewalk, and you can even collect rainwater runoff in barrels to use in your garden.
In the bathroom, there are plenty of ways to save on your water bill. When it comes to flushing the toilet, you should first check for leaks by pouring a packet of colored, powder drink mix in the tank. If you start to see that color in the toilet bowl without flushing, you could be pouring money down the drain and should fix the flap or seal as soon as possible. Once that’s done, you can also save costs on each flush, by placing a plastic bottle filled with sand or pebbles in the tank of your toilet.
If you have a leaky faucet, you could be wasting thousands of gallons of water every year. According to a U.S. Geological Survey, one drip every second adds up to 6,428 extra gallons annually, so fix leaky spigots as soon as you see them.
When it comes to showering, cutting a fifteen-minute shower to ten minutes will save you big bucks over time. But you should also be paying attention to your showerhead. Replacing an older showerhead with an eco-friendly version (that follows the 1994 federally-mandated regulations) will spray less than 2.5 gallons per minute, and can put hundreds of dollars back in your wallet.
Electric
When you leave a room, get in the habit of turning out the lights. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t waste more energy to turn lights off and on. And if you’re still using incandescent bulbs, you’re burning up money that you could save by switching to longer-lasting, environmentally friendly LED lightbulbs. They’re a bit pricier than your standard bulb, but over the life of an LED bulb (which can last up to 50,000 hours), you’ll save quite a bit more money than the initial cost.
You should also turn off and unplug appliances whenever you can. 40% of energy consumed by home electronics is used when devices are off—so make sure to unplug chargers, laptops, any other personal items, and a power strip or surge protector with a master switch can help with that. Large appliances are also cheaper to run at night. Avoid peak energy rates for clothes dryers and dishwashers by using them in the evening.