Money-saving ways to help reduce household bills like gas, water & electricity?

Question

With so many rising bills to pay, what sort of things can we do at home that will help to reduce these monthly costs and maybe also help the environment?

Answer 1

i receive a free weekly newsletter from thedollarstretcher.com. they have wonderful tips covering spending and saving, shopping, recycling, recipes, basically anything. cook more than one meal at a go  and freeze some for later. switch off any lights not in use. line dry clothes and fold them as you unhang them will save a ton of ironing. get energy saving light bulbs and use natural sunlight as far as possible. set your fridge lower. by experimenting you will be able to know how low and still keep food fresh. switch off your computer, radio, tv etc if not using them. finally make sure all your gadgets are in top condition- faulty appliances use more power.

Answer 2

This article - http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/green_pr... - works out that you can potentially save over £500 per year off your bills (initial installation costs excluded) by following some of the tips and advice already mentioned above. Savings include:

Not leaving equipment on standby - £37 per year

Blocking gaps and draughts in floorboards - £50 per year

Installing decent thick loft insulation - £70 per year

Cavity wall insulation put in - 130 - £160 annual saving

Simply turning down your heating a notch - £45 per year

Switching off power packs and chargers at the wall when not in use - £36 per year

Loads more energy and money saving ideas over at http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/

Answer 3

A few ways you can save money around the home are;

Installing CFLs in your home can reduce your annual electricity bill by 14% and last 6 to 8 times longer than incandescent bulbs. They are now widely available in many styles and designs for as low as $1.50 a bulb.

Insulation, you could consider installing cavity wall insulation or roof insulation. 25 - 40% of heat is lost through the walls and 25% through the roof. Installing both will signifigantly reduce your annual heating and air con bills and you should beable to recoup the cost within 1 to 3 years. This will save about 2-3 tonnes of Co2 per year. The cost is about $750, but grants are available, some up to 100% of the cost.

Purchase local produce and use tap water not bottled, not only does this support the local economy it also reduces the carbon emissions from food transport, which accounts for about 19% of all emissions.

The average household wastes $76 in stand-by a year, turn your appliances off when not in use.

Reduce your heating thermostat by 1 degree can reduce your heating bills by 10% per year. Reduce your hot water tank thermostat to 50 degrees, each 5.5 degree reduces you hot water heating cost by 13%. Put a thick insulation jacket on your hot water tank (less than $20), this prevents heat loss from your tank and can save about $20 a year in hot water costs.

Also check out all the tips at this page which are free;

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com/2007...

Energy Saver

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

[e-mail]

Answer 4

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tip...

Answer 5

electronic equipment that remain pluged in to the electrical mains although not in use still consume nominal amounts of electricity, in example battery chargers (cell phone, battery,etc) are in constant output, TV´s, PC´s, and all the other ´s you own have what they call stand by functions, whilst the power consumed by these is considered nominal the sum of watts consumed as a group and trough the day is of a important amount, unplug the stuff you could use ul approved switched power strips for more comfort, also have your home inspected by a qualified technician, unbalanced loads on the main breaker circuits often cause the power meter to run faster on 220v service.

Answer 6

lots of good tips already provided. Here are some others.

Cooking: eat more fresh raw produce, saves on gas and healthier.

Install solar hot water if your area is suitable (80% of areas are) Save heaps on power bills. (lots of places offer subsidies as well).

Throw on an extra bit of clothing in winter and drop that thermostat down 3 degrees.

Install a wood fired stove, cooker, if its permitted in your area. Burn old newspapers or paper logs in it.

turn taps off when not in use, eg, off while you are brushing your teeth, on when you actually need the water! Same while shaving. Stick a brick in your cistern, reduces the flush volume by about 2 litres a flush. Better still install a dual flush cistern with reduced volume.

Install water miser taps and shower roses. Use grey water (waste from shower, handbasin, laundry) to water gardens (if its allowed). The plants usually love the extra nutrients.

Cook more stir frys, only takes 5 to 10 mins of cooking. Cook more one pot meals.

No need to unplug appliences, but you should switch off at power point to reduce standby load. Standby loads for some appliences can by a lot high than you might expect. (some times 20-30% of running cost)

Reduce electric ironing times. Basic rule, electric heating uses heaps more electricity than other uses of electricity. So an electric iron 900W, but fridge 250W, TV typically less than 100W, radio, 20-30W, Electric Jug, 1000W or more, electric cooking gets costly!

So keep operating times for electric heating/cooking gear short, every second counts. Don't get to flustered about switching the radio, it doesn't use a lot.  Fridges and freezers -remember they are not on continuously, they switch themselves on and off as needed. Keep the doors shut and for upright models, keep them full, that waythe cold air doesn't all fall out every time you open the door.

For electrical appliances always look at the wattage. That tells you how much energy it uses. 1000W used for one hour is one billing unit (1kWh)

Answer 7

Firstly make sure that when the bill comes, it is the right bill. Last year it came a bill to me so much money while i was on a long holiday away. They are very clever to cheat on you and you just pay without thinking....

Try to switch lights of rooms when you are not in that particular room. Shower once a day, but not once a week though!, and try to balance in all the gas, electrisity etc.... YOu know best what you got at home.... everything is computers these days and everything relates on power!

Answer 8

Have you tried changing supplier? I checked our gas bill on http://www.moneysupermarket.com/utilitie... ?? I looked at ours and were paying nearly £100 more by just staying as we were and even less than the guy who knocked on our door said we could save!