365 Ways to Live Cheap (13 page)

151. P
UT
Y
OUR
H
OME
E
LECTRONICS ON A
S
WITCH
-B
ASED
P
OWER
S
OURCE

Many home electronic devices continue to eat electricity even when turned off. The truth is that they often switch into “standby” mode, which means that they slowly consume energy even though they’re not in use. Some devices can consume as much as 40 watts in standby mode, which costs you a dime a day at current energy costs. You can solve that problem by putting many of your devices on a single surge protector, then plugging that device into an outlet in your home powered by a switch. When you’re done with the equipment, flip the switch. No more lost juice and instant energy savings. Don’t have a switch like this? You can get a remote-controlled surge protector that will provide much the same functionality, or other devices that can do the same thing.

152. T
URN
O
FF
L
IGHTS
Y
OU
’R
E
N
OT
U
SING

A typical incandescent bulb uses 60 or 75 watts. That means that every fifteen hours or so, it consumes a kilowatt-hour of energy, costing you a dime at current average energy rates. Going through your home to turn off lights before you leave, or even flipping off switches as you wander through your home, can save significant money over the long haul. Got a strip of lights in your bathroom eating 60 watts each? Leaving them on for just a few hours eats a dime, and flipping off that switch before you leave for work can save you thirty cents or so. A minute’s worth of walking through your house to turn off lights can be an extremely cost-effective use of your time.

153. U
NPLUG
E
LECTRICAL
D
EVICES
Y
OU
’R
E
N
OT
U
SING

Don’t leave devices that you rarely use plugged in. Many electrical devices use a very small amount of energy from the outlet, called the “phantom load,” even when unplugged. Unplug devices like cell phone chargers, laptop chargers, other electronic chargers, and small home electric devices and appliances that you don’t use every day, like a toaster. Even with a phantom load of four watts—very common in household devices—you’ll end up burning more than a quarter’s worth of energy every month (at current energy rates) for each device you leave plugged in without reason. Unplug it and save.

154. P
UT
A
LL
D
EVICE
C
HARGERS ON
O
NE
P
OWER
S
TRIP

Create a power strip that has all of your chargers on it. Get one with a switch at one end for easy convenience. Whenever you need to charge a device, just attach it to the appropriate cord, then flip the switch to turn on the juice; when the device is done, flip the switch to cut the energy. This gives you the convenience of keeping your chargers plugged in and in a standard place along with the energy efficiency of eliminating the phantom power load that slowly adds to your energy bill. You can even get creative and put this strip and charger in a small box with just the switch and the ends of the various chargers exposed. This is an excellent craft project that makes your chargers look a lot neater while also cutting down on your energy use.

155. T
URN
D
OWN
Y
OUR
W
ATER
H
EATER

The correct temperature setting on your water heater is just hot enough so you can get the heat you actually need when turning on your faucet on full heat. If the water coming out of your faucet is too hot when you’ve turned it on full blast, turn down your water heater. It’ll save you on energy use (and likely save you from a burn from touching water that’s too hot). Most water heaters have a very easy temperature adjustment—turn it down a bit and see how things are, then turn it down a bit more if it’s still too hot.

156. I
NSULATE
Y
OUR
W
ATER
H
EATER

Another useful tactic for reducing energy loss is to insulate your water heater. Many modern water heaters are already well insulated, but not all are, and even a well-insulated heater can use a little extra help. The Iowa Energy Center reports that a properly installed blanket can reduce energy loss by 25 to 45 percent on a water heater. If you lose even a dollar’s worth of energy from your water heater, the blanket will pay for itself in just a few years (and likely you lose even more energy than that). Go to your local hardware store and ask about a water heater blanket.

157. I
NSTALL
L
OW
-F
LOW
S
HOWERHEADS

The average price of water in the United States is about $1.50 per 1,000 gallons. The national average water flow for showerheads is about 2.6 gallons per minute. You can buy a low-flow showerhead with a switch that reduces the water flow to 1.2 gallons per minute without a noticeable difference in the shower. If you take an average of ten minutes in the shower and you and your spouse take a shower every day, that’s 730 showers a year for a total of 7,300 shower-minutes. A low-flow showerhead can save you 1.4 gallons per minute, a total of roughly 10,000 gallons a year. Thus, a low-flow showerhead can save you $15 a year, and modern low-flow showerheads are indistinguishable from normal ones in terms of shower quality.

158. T
AKE
S
HORTER
S
HOWERS

The average showerhead uses 2.6 gallons of water per minute, and water costs about $1.50 per 1,000 gallons used. If you dawdle in the shower and use five minutes’ worth of extra water flow each time you take a daily shower, you waste 4,745 gallons of water each year. That adds up to about $7.50 in lost water for time just spent dawdling when you could be doing something else. Practice taking timed showers. See whether or not you can get in the habit of doing your showering business in just seven minutes, or even just five. Another tactic is to install a showerhead (preferably a low-flow one—see tip #157) with a switch and get in the habit of turning off the water while you lather up, scrub yourself, or put shampoo or conditioner on your hair. If you can stop the water flow for just three minutes while doing these tasks, you save $4.50 a year in water use and help the environment, too.

159. A
IR
-S
EAL
Y
OUR
H
OME

Many homes, especially older ones, lose energy to the outdoors almost constantly because of drafts and other air leaks. Blasting cool air outside during the summer, or warm air outside during the winter, can be a significant energy cost. The U.S. Department of Energy states that two simple steps for air-sealing your home, caulking and weather-stripping, will pay for themselves within a year, leaving you with substantial energy savings for years. Visit the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site to find out more, including a guide to caulking and weather-stripping your home. You can find this information online at
www.eere.energy.gov/consumer
.

160. A
DJUST
Y
OUR
H
OME
’S T
EMPERATURE
S
EASONALLY

Many people find an acceptable temperature in their home and never adjust it again, leaving it at the same temperature year-round. This can eat up significant energy, as your home heating and cooling equipment work year-round to maintain this steady temperature. Instead, adopt a seasonal temperature strategy. If you know what your “standard” temperature is, raise it up 4 degrees in the summer and lower it by 4 degrees in the winter. So, if “normal” is 71 degrees, set it to 75 in the summer and 67 in the winter. This will significantly reduce the effort put forth by your heating and cooling appliances and save you energy money over the long run.

161. U
SE
H
EAVY
D
RAPES AND
B
LINDS

Drapes and blinds serve to minimize the amount of heat transferred through windows by adding an extra layer of insulation. The heavier the drapes and blinds, the better insulation they will provide, thus they’ll save you more money on both heating and cooling costs. The larger the window, the more important it is to use heavy drapes and blinds to cover it most of the time, as large windows lose far more energy than small ones.

162. O
PEN AND
C
LOSE THE
B
LINDS
/C
URTAINS IN
T
UNE WITH THE
W
EATHER

In the summer, keep the drapes closed, as they’ll help block out the sunlight and help keep your home cool. In the winter, keep the drapes closed except when sunlight is directly on the window, then open the drapes and enjoy the “free” heat. In spring and fall, though, when the temperature outside is much the same as it is inside, open up those drapes and open the windows on pleasant days, allowing the air to flow in and out freely. Doing this habitually can save a lot of money on your energy bill, as it allows you to take advantage of external heat when it’s beneficial and block it when it’s a hindrance.

163. U
SE THE
“H
IBERNATE
” M
ODE ON
Y
OUR
C
OMPUTER

“Hibernation” mode, if available on your computer, is the best possible balance of intelligent energy use and convenience in powering up. Putting your computer in “hibernate” means that it copies your current computer state to the hard drive, then powers down the computer entirely, just as if you had turned it off. When you power up again, though, the computer reads the stored state and returns your computer to the exact same situation that it was in before you put it in hibernate mode. Many people do not like the inconvenience of going through a computer’s lengthy start-up. “Hibernate” mode allows you to take advantage of the huge energy savings from powering down your computer when you’re not using it coupled with most of the convenience of a quick start-up.

164. C
LOSE
O
FF
U
NUSED
R
OOMS

If there are rooms in your house that are rarely used, close them off so that you’re not wasting energy heating and cooling those rooms. Pull the blinds tight, close any vents in the room, and then close the door tightly, even stuffing any significant gaps under the door. This room will typically be warmer than the rest of the house in summer and cooler than the rest in winter due to the reduced energy used to heat and cool that room, and that reduced use goes straight into your pocket in the form of a smaller energy bill.

165. C
LEAN
O
UT
Y
OUR
A
IR
V
ENTS

Over time, the air vents in your home will slowly get clogged with dust, especially dust that’s not visible at a glance. Once every year or two, spend the time to take a duster to every vent in your home, remove the cover, and dust deeply inside the vent to make sure there’s no dust building up in there. Also, ensure that none of the vents in your home are covered up or obstructed—for instance, by a chair or bed—as blocked vents are incredibly inefficient. Rearranging a room to unblock a vent is well worth the effort in terms of money saved.

166. I
NSTALL
C
EILING
F
ANS IN
E
VERY
R
OOM
Y
OU
S
PEND
T
IME
I
N

Ceiling fans are brilliant tools for reducing energy use in every season, but you have to be a bit clever to maximize their value. In the winter, set the fan to run in a clockwise direction, which pulls the warm air from the ceiling and pushes it down toward the floor, subtly raising the temperature in the room and causing the heating system to work less. In the summer, have the fan run in the opposite direction, which maximizes the circulation benefit of a fan. Air circulation can make the room feel as much as 8 degrees cooler, and combined with a temperature-adjustment strategy it can save you as much as 30 percent on your cooling bill.

167. D
O AN
I
NSULATION
I
NSPECTION

Unsurprisingly, having good insulation in the attic can make a huge difference in the amount of energy you expend in the winter keeping your home warm. In most modern homes, it’s easy to check this. The attic is mostly loaded with insulation on the floor, so take a peek up there and see what you notice. Are there any bare areas? That’s going to be a heat leak, so make sure you have insulation placed in that area. Also, if you’re able to, note the resistance rating of the insulation in your attic. It’s usually noted with the letter R followed by a number. Ideally, you want insulation between R-21 and R-30. If it’s low, like R-10, you should consider installing some higher-resistance insulation on top of the existing insulation without pressing down the existing insulation. Your local hardware store will be glad to offer advice and suggestions.

168. D
O
P
ROPER
M
AINTENANCE ON
Y
OUR
F
URNACE AND
A
IR
-C
ONDITIONING
U
NIT

Home energy use often revolves around your furnace and your air-conditioning unit, which is why so many of these tips focus on improving their efficiency. Efficiency doesn’t matter, though, if your units aren’t functioning well, and the best way to maintain their functionality is by performing regular maintenance on the devices. Make sure their vents are clean. Replace the filters in your air-handling system regularly. Make absolutely sure that you haven’t stacked anything on or around your outside air-conditioning unit. These little tips will go a long way toward keeping your heating and cooling units running efficiently, and might even extend their life, putting money right in your pocket.