Ways to Reduce Your Utility Bill?

**MomToTwoBoys** · 05-11-2008, 12:34 PM

Hi all!

Our utility bill has been a bit rough on us lately, especially with how insane the weather has been. It'll snow one day and be warm enough to melt it the next! I'm looking for ways to keep our utility bill down all year, not just during the summer. We average about 290/mo in the winter months, 180/mo in the summer months and we just had new windows put in last fall. Our bill consists of:

Electricity
Natural Gas
Water
Sewer

The electricity tends to fluctuate and never stays where I'd like it to be, which is even throughout the year. The natural gas is highest in the winter because honestly, being -40C sometimes makes it even really cold here. I have a confession: I loooooooove hot baths after I take a shower. I know that may be part of why the bill is so high, so I'm going to try to cut that part of my bathing routine out and see how much it helps. I don't really have room for a clothes line outside, so all of my laundry is being dried indoors.

Are there any ways that I can cut that bill? I keep the house on 70-72F all day, a little warmer in the winter time (I have the worst circulation so my hands and feet absolutely freeze

). I dress in layers for the entire winter too. I keep the heat off during the day when it's really nice outside and put it on at least 68 in the nighttime. I've also cut down on using my hair dryer and my curling iron to only the days when I need to get out and look semi-decent.

I started unplugging the appliances I don't use (like the coffee pot, the microwave, stereo, VCR, etc.) and we keep the TV off when the kids aren't watching it.

I appreciate the help.

**kate68ii** · 05-11-2008, 09:43 PM

Do you use compact fluorescent light bulbs in your lights? They make a big difference.

**Jamauk** · 05-11-2008, 10:15 PM

This may not apply to you - but we have a wood burning stove and we use that to heat the house in the winter - I LOVE IT!!! DH cuts the wood himself (he gets a permit to basically go get scraps from after the loggers are done). It helps keep our utilities under control in the winter.

**FrugalMomof3** · 05-11-2008, 10:46 PM

Have you tried unplugging items not in use? What about using candles instead of lights at night and natural light during the day?

You have to make sure items not being used are turned off each and every time you leave the room, etc... my electric bill never gets more than $65 in the winter and $80 in the summer (I use ceiling fans in the summer instead of AC). I am a frugal person and hate when bills get high so I try various things to get them lowered. One thing I might add is be prepared for your bills to get even higher as most electric companies are raising costs. Better to cut down now.

Also, CFL lights are great, energy efficient appliances are the way to go now as well.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 05-12-2008, 11:58 AM

I did a check on the CFL bulbs and oh my, it turns out we don't have any in the two upper levels of our house! We only have them in the basement (there's three light sockets in the basement) so that's something I've got to change.

I turned down my water heater to vacation starting yesterday and I only turn it up to hot when people are either a) taking a shower or b) doing dishes. We wash our clothes only on cold water and I always rinse my dishes with cold water anyways. I also started using the Permanent Press option on my dryer to use less heat and it's working so far.

I did turn off the power bar that has my TV, cable box, VCR, stereo and XBox hooked up to it since we barely use it during the day. I also have the heat on 68F and am sitting in my living room with socks and a sweat shirt and track pants on right now to keep warm. I also haven't been turning on the lights at all, even at night. Last night I was sitting on my bed with my notebook and you know what I used for a light? My cell phone light.

I made a huge list of ways to save on my utility bill and I'm hoping it makes a difference soon. I also cleaned that air intake thing under my refridgerator, which was totally gross, but it's definitely been running quieter since I did it. There's roughly fourteen things on the list and they're all pretty easy to keep doing. I'm even getting the kids into doing it.

**YankeeMom** · 05-12-2008, 12:06 PM

Big differences that have helped us:

~using a woodstove to supplement heat. Although we have our thermostat set at 59F most of the time, with the woodstove we can get it up to 64F or more.

~using a programmable thermostat. Like I posted above, our thermostat is set on 59F for most of the day. The thermostat is programmed to turn the thermostat up to 63F in the early morning hours (from 6am-8am) when dh & the girls are getting their showers and up to 61F from 6pm-8pm (when the boys are getting their baths). Because we use the woodstove mostly in the evenings, the furnace rarely needs to kick on during that 6-8pm time slot. Right now, the heat is turned OFF and the house is a comfy 64F. I'm wearing short sleeves and capris lol.

~hanging clothes outside on a clothesline rather than using the dryer. Just today I've washed & hung out 5 loads of laundry...and it's only noon. Last month our electric/gas bill was down $20 and a lot of it is not using the dryer.

~low-flow shower heads, showers use less water than baths...IF you don't take 30 minute showers and IF you have a low-flow shower head.

~low-flow toilets, if you don't have low-flow toilets you can put a jug filled with water or sand in the tank to displace water and it will use less water to flush. We do this, we have toilets that are from 1960s and the tanks are HUGE. With six people using three toilets, it adds up.

~I also like to use my crockpot and microwave rather than the (gas) stove top or oven. They both use less electricity than the stove uses gas.

**sunshine** · 05-12-2008, 12:48 PM

Things we changed to cut the utility bills (take what works, keep the rest in the back of your mind for later if you need it):

- changed to CFL bulbs

- Started doing more batch cooking, and just reheat for meals. It's more effective to cook 6 meatloaves at a time, then reheat for dinner, than to cooke 6 seperate meatloaves. Same with bread, casseroled, etc.

- hang dry laundry. I started by hanging wet clothes on hangers and putting the hangers on the shower rod. Then I got a few more shower rods (spring type) and put them in doorways to hang the clothes . . . then I put up drying racks, then lines in the ceiling of the basement. I also have lines outdoors for nice weather. I hardly ever use my electric dryer now.

- save bath water for flushing the toliet, watering the garden, etc.

- bathed the kids together

- took navy showers (get in and get wet, turn off the water, soap up, lather hair, etc, turn water back on and rinse off)

- solar cooker, used the microwave and crockpots more often -- they use less power than my propane cook stove. Unless I'm batch cooking,I use the other methods of cooking

-space heaters in the winter. . I don't try to heat the entire house, just the space where I'm at currently. Then I move the space heater to where I go later. So I set the house themostat at 65 degrees, and use the space heater by me when I'm on the computer, taking a shower, etc. At night the thermostat goes down to 58 degrees in the house and we use the space heater on a timer in the bedroom. . .once we are warm and asleep, it goes off.

- same concept in the summer. . set the thermostat a bit warmer, and use a fan to cool the area where you are.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 05-12-2008, 02:53 PM

*lol* I hadn't thought of the old navy showers (I spent 13 weeks worth in those kinds of showers when I was going through basic training in the Marines) but I should go back to them. I was bathing the kids together for a while but DS #1 and #2 are 5.5 years apart in age, so I was a little worried about that.

I'm going to head over to our local Superstore (which is a god send) and see what they have for clothes lines and such. We had a big enough side yard where I can prop up a clothes line, plus there's a small section in the back yard to the side of the steps that's flat enough to construct a clothes line. I'm also going to pick up a drying rack or two in the basement once the playroom construction is finished and all that extra space isn't cluttered. Our natural gas bill should be going back down once DH gets his birthday present (which is a propane grill from his dad) and we won't be cooking as much in the house anymore.