Saving money on heating

January 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Heating bills are a huge source of anxiety for many in the current financial climate amidst rising fuel costs adding to the pressure.

Here are some tips to help get those heating bills under control:

• Only heat the parts of the house that you are using. Keep the central heating to key times of the day when everyone is around then use radient heaters in the the rooms that you are using dring the day. This will make significant savings on heating.
• Ceiling fans can be useful in winter as they will blow back down the warm air from your heating as it rises. Obviously they need to be set to run very slow otherwise they will make an unwelcome cold breeze.
• Ensure that your home is well insulated and draught proofed to avoid heating the birds in the trees outside instead of yourselves. Lagging in the roof space, cladding, secondary glazing or plastic sheets at the windows etc can all help to reduce heating costs.
• Check that you have the most efficient heating system possible. If changing your system is not viable, the above tips should help.

Saving money on electricity (Part 3)

December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Here are some final ideas for saving money on electricity. Please feel free to post other ideas for saving on electricity to share with other readers.

• If your electricity bills seem excessively high, an energy audit may be in order to check if there is some form of leakage or theft of electricity from you.
• A programmable thermostat plus thermal linings to shoes and slippers will both reduce the temptation to nudge the heating up and this will save electricity.
• Shutting down the water heater at night may not help to reduce electricity used as you have to heat the water you use whenever you use it. A good insulating jacket / tying old duvets to your water tank may me a more helpful way to save on electricity by keeping the heat in the water for longer.

Saving money on electricity (Part 2)

December 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

As energy costs continue to rise, finding ways to save money on electricity can help to release funds for the more fun things in life.

Here are a few tips for saving money on electricity:

• Using small kitchen appliances such as microwaves, slow cookers and toaster etc can use up to 75%  less electricity than turning on the large electric oven will.
• Using lids on pans will save cooking time resulting in saving money on electricity. Likewise, using the small hob on your cooker rather than the large one for small pans will save electricity too.
• Turning off all appliances when they are not in use will save electicity…televisions, dvd players, computers etc all draw small amounts of electricity just to operate that little light that tells you it is plugged in. Every little helps when saving money on electricity.
• Replacing old incandescent bulbs with new energy saving light bulbs can save up to 25% of your lighting costs for those rooms.
• Turning your thermostat for the furnace down to 68 or lower will save money on electricity.
• When you have finished baking, prop open the oven door to allow the remaining heat from the oven to warm the room (only do this if there are no young ones in the house).
• If using a tumble dryer, dry one load after another to avoid the machine needing to re-heat. This will save some electricity.
• On the same principle, if your hot water tank allows it, take showers one after the other in the household to avoid wasting as much warm water sitting in the pipes after a shower finishes.

 Remember…..little amounts do matter….50 cents per day saving amounts to $15 per month and $180 per year…so it’s worth doing!

Saving money on electricity (Part 1)

December 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

With rising utility bills and generally tighter budgets for many, it is important to consider how to cut back on the quantities of fuel that we use - especially when securing cheaper prices as a way to save money on electricity is becoming harder to do.

How can I save money on electricity?

Over the coming days, Credit Crunch Helpdesk is going to examine some ways of saving money on electricity that may work for you. Give them a try….its the only way to find out what will work for your home…

• One of the most common ways of wasting electricity in most homes is the failure to turn off lights when they are not in use. Turning off unused lights may seem obvious - but, just reflect how many times you walk back into a room after dark to find a light on and nobody using the room. This can be a particular issue with young children leaving lights on everywhere they go. Encouraging new habits will save a lot of money on electricity. The only exception to this would be some light bulbs that have been designed to be more efficient when left on in spaces where people are coming and going a lot. Check your manufacturer’s instructions for details on this.
• If you are in the habit of leaving an external light switched on for when you return home, changing this light fitting to a movement sensor will save money on electricity as the bulb will only be switched on when needed.
• If using electricity for heating a room, ensuring windows are well covered and draught proofed in winter will help to prevent the cold coming into a room off the glass. This will mean that you save money on electricity by not having your heaters on so high / so long. This technique will also save for other forms of heating as well.
• If your hot water is heated by electricity in an immersion tank, heating water on a timer saves money on electricity in comparison to leaving the water heater on all the time. A morning and evening slot for water heating will normally suffice day to day needs and a well insulated tank should hold the heat in the water for several hours.
• It is worth contacting your electricity carrier and checking prices for electricity consumption during off-peak hours. There are lots of things you can plan to do at these time such as charging batteries, using the tumbler dryer or washing machine etc. Every little action helps to save money on electrcity.
• On a similar theme, you can  save a lot of money by hanging your clothes out to dry instead of using the tumble dryer to completely dry them. Just 10 minutes on a timer in the dryer once they are dried through will be enough to soften most items and get superficial creases out.         

Saving money on water costs in the house and garden

September 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Ways of Saving Money on Water

We have already examined some ways to reduce water bills in the kitchen, reducing water bills in the kitchen but what about in the rest of the house and even the garden?

Hot tips for saving money on water bills in the house and garden

(1) Placing a brick inside each toilet cistern in the house will reduce the amount of water used with each flush…potentially saving up to 10% of water used for flushing toilets per day.

(2) Taking a shower instead of a bath will only use a fraction of the water as well as a fraction of the energy needed to heat that water making savings in two ways.

(3) How many of us leave the tap running whilst brushing our teeth once the toothbrush has been wet? Its an old habit and such a pointless waste of water. Definately one to think about for that couple of minutes of brushing….how many gallons of water does that mount up to for each person per year?

(4) Instead of draining all the water away from your bath or shower, leave the plug in then use the water remaining to water plants and pots in the garden. A bit of an effort, I know, but certainly a good use of resources…..just think of the exercise benefits too!

(3) Investing in a water butt for the garden will enable you to catch rain for watering plans therefore saving your paid for water resources for other uses.

Most of these water savings take minor efforts but will have a significant impact of up to at least 10% reduction on annual water usage. During the financial restrictions upon many of us following the credit crunch this may free up financial resources for for fun expenditure.

Please post any further water saving ideas you may have for the benefit of all of our readers.

Saving money on water bills in the kitchen

September 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

If you are paying for your water by usage there are many ways that you can save on your water rates. Even if you pay a flat monthly rate for water usage, then there are environmental benefits to more cautious use of water resources as well.

Top Money Saving Tips for Water in the Kitchen

Here are some tips to help you to reduce your water consumption in the kitchen and so reduce your bills during the constraints of the credit crunch as well as being more environmentally aware:

1.  When going to the tap for a glass of water, most people run the tap for a while to get it nice and cold first. Placing a jug or bottle of water in the fridge will prevent the water wastage that happens when each glass of water is fetched from the kitchen.
2. Keeping water used in kettles and saucepans to a minimum reduced the amount thrown away as well as the energy used to bring it to the boil. An added benefit of steaming vegetables is, of course, less of the nutrients get destroyed in the cooking process making this small change a winner all round.
3.  Washing fruit and vegetables in a bowl of water rather than under a running tap then using the leftover water for watering houseplants will make significant savings.
4. Instead of rinsing soap off dishes under a running hot water tap, place the washed dishes on the drainer then, at the end of washing up, gently pour a jug of hot water over them to rinse off soap suds. Not only will this save water but the energy to heat the water too.
5. Newer energy efficient clothes washing machines and dishwashers both use less water in them. Not only does this make significant savings on water bills during the year but also reduces the energy used to heat that water too bringing savings on two major household bills.

Although these may seem like modest savings they really do mount up and we would love to hear any more tips that you might have to save water in the kitchen.

In the next post in this series we will examing ways to save water in the house and garden.