Utilities – Saving even more money

Believe it or not, but there are even more ways to save money with your utilities…and here they are…

Deep freezers are great for storing extra meats and frozen items, but if you are under using it, it can cost you a lot of money.  If your freezer is almost empty, fill it up with milk jugs filled with water.  This will take up space which keeps the freezer from running more often to keep things frozen.

Using surge protectors to plug most of your electronics into can save you money also.  How?  Well, when you aren’t using these items, just flip the switch on the surge protector off.  This will kill the electricity to these items.  Plus, they will help protect your t.v., computers, etc if lightning ever hits your house.

“Off peak” hours are when electric companies charge less for using certain things.  Check with your electric company to see if they have off-peak hours.  If they do, then this is when you want to do your laundry, dishes, etc.  If you have a timer on your dishwasher, you can load your dishes at 6 p.m., set the timer and your dishes can be washed at 1 a.m.

You can get a timer for your hot water heater, and set that timer so that it is not heating your water during the day when no one is there.

You wear a jacket when you are cold, so why not give your pipes and water tank a jacket to keep them from getting cold.  This will help insulate the pipes and water tank which will keep them from taking so long to heat up.

Keep the water level in your toilet tank low.  If you have an older toilet, then put a brick or two inside the tank so the water level will be lower.   Depending on how old your toilet is, you might want to invest in a new dual flush tank.  This will let you do half a flush for liquids and a full flush for the harder stuff.

Check the water level on your toilet…you can lower this water level by bending the float so that it sets lower in the toilet. If you have a very old toilet, you can put bricks inside the tank (make sure they don’t block the flush valve/float)…If you have a water bill, this will save you a lot of money. If you don’t (because you have a well, etc.) this will save water and help the environment.
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Step 13

Dripping faucets aren’t only annoying, but they can cost you a lot of money in wasted water. Most of the time, a leaky faucet can be fixed by you…

Same goes with a toilet that runs constantly. A simple fix can save you a lot of money. If you want to see if your toilet is leaking…put some red food coloring in the tank…wait about one hour and if you see any red in the bowl, then you have a leak that needs to be fixed.

Also, water your lawn at night. Put your sprinkler system on a timer. This way the water won’t evaporate in the middle of the day because of the heat won’t be there.
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Step 14

Turn down the heat and put on a sweater and/or turn up your air and take off some clothes.

Changing the temperature to a few degrees lower in the winter and higher in the summer can save you a lot of money.

Also, when it is not THAT hot, use a fan instead of your air conditioning.

Clean your heating/cooling system and have it inspected yearly. Change your filter often (if your filter is only good for 3 months, then change it every three months.)