How To Keep The Lights And Power On Without Breaking The Bank
Keep a watchful eye on your electric, gas and water usage while you are home
If you find yourself home a lot these days because of the stay-at-home orders or the government isolation requests, you might be doing what you normally do on the weekends. And what do you do different then? You are home a lot so you use large quantities of electricity, gas, and water.
Think back to the amounts of your water, electric, and gas bills from a few months ago when everyone was leaving the house during most of the weekday hours. Now think of those bills doubling or tripling every month until things return to normal around the world.
What can you do about it? Well, the first step is to acknowledge that you are at home so much more these days than before. Then stop and consider what you are doing each day.
Here are some tips:
- Water usage at mealtime. Are you making three meals a day for a family of four plus doing other tasks that require water? Keep an eye on your water usage throughout the day. Make sure you don’t run the dishwasher every day if you don’t have to do so. If you clean dishes in the sink, do not let the water run non-stop while you clean pots, pans, plates, bowls, and silverware.
- Water use elsewhere. It is easy to just take showers when you feel like it and all that, but you’re probably not getting very dirty if you are working remotely via computer. You may not need to shower every day and you can always cut your showers short. Most showers use many gallons of water so you want to reduce the amount of water you use. There are also special shower heads that can reduce water consumption.
- The lights. Do your best not to have so many lights on throughout the day. There should be plenty of sunshine outside you can use so open up your curtains. You can also purchase energy-efficient light bulbs that last a long time and use less electricity.
- Appliances. Make sure to check to see if you are using energy-efficient applicants. Old refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, or water heaters may by causing your utility bills to go high in a hurry. You can often get free inspections or checkups by your local power company to help you discover where you can save money.
- Televisions. A lot of new TVs don’t use much power and are designed to cost very little in terms in operation. If you do not have a new one, make sure to think about replacing the one you have with an energy-efficient one.
I hope these tips can help you and your family. Keep in mind what you are doing at home each day and try not to use too much water, electricity, or gas, If you forget about your usage of these things, you may receive some unpleasant and unexpected bills that are much higher than before.
