Trying to save money is something all of us are trying to do. Unfortunately, most of us don’t do a great job. In fact, most Americans don’t have enough in their savings account to even cover a $1000 emergency. While many think saving money can take a lot of effort or huge lifestyle changes, that isn’t always the case.
One of the best and easiest ways to save more money is to cut your own personal costs and lower your utilities. In particular, your energy costs are highly variable and will be raised or lowered depending on usage. Not only can the results be seen immediately, but they can actually be quite simple to lower. Not only that, but there are many methods that won’t cost you a dime.
Without any further ado, let’s look at 5 different and free ways to cut your energy and utility costs to save money.
Shop Around And Consider Different Providers
Of course, while usage of your energy is important to how much you pay, so are the rates. Different providers will offer different rates, and getting a plan with a lower rate can save you a ton of money every year. As a result, it is important to shop around to different providers.
If you simply go with the first provider you consider, you could be missing out on some great deals. However, not everyone has time to go and visit or reach out to several different providers. Thankfully, there are ways out there to compare rates from one provider to another (such as texaselectricityplans.com). These resources can make it easy to find the best provider in your area.
Use Cold Water More Frequently
Using cold water is one of the best ways to easily save money. This is because it can take a lot of energy to heat water for things like showers and washing clothing. Most of the energy used when washing clothes goes to heating up the water, so switching to cold water can offer huge cost savings. And in most situations, it will clean your clothing just as well.
Same goes for when you take a shower. If you don’t want to take cold showers, which is understandable, try to cut down the time you take in the shower. While this won’t save energy, it will save water, which can potentially be an expensive bill as well. The more you can use cold water in your day-to-day life, the cheaper your bills will likely be.
Use Dishwasher and Washing Machine Only When You Need
While it might not seem like a lot, running a load in your dishwasher or washing machine can use quite a bit of water. Unfortunately, many people will wash small loads, which can be a huge waste. Instead, you should look to only run these machines when it is truly necessary.
Make sure to you enough dirty clothes of dishes to run a full load and make it worthwhile. Washing full loads can save you thousands of gallons of water every year. This might take some getting used to, but it is a completely free and easy way to use less water and cut your costs. Also, the less times you run these machines, the less energy will be used to heat the water inside them.
Limit the Usage of the Furnace and Air Conditioning
Heating or cooling our homes is important, as we all want to be comfortable. However, there is a good chance you can be more efficient about it than you currently are. If something like opening the window to cool down or heat up your home is an option, that should be your preferred method. Your furnace and A/C should only be used when truly needed.
On the other hand, when you are heating or cooling your home, you want to make sure to close all windows and doors. For example, it doesn’t make sense to run the A/C during the summer with the windows open, as you are constantly letting warm air back into your home. Also, be sure to check doors and windows for leaks or drafts, as these can have an effect on your heating and cooling efforts.
Turn off the Lights
This is one thing that most of us are infamously bad at. Most of us forget to turn off lights at least a few times a week. However, leaving lights on for long periods of time, especially when you’re not in the room, can be a huge waste. It can cost you hundreds of dollars a year when you forget to turn your lights off.
This money can be saved simply by doing a walkthrough of your home before you leave for work or go to bed, to ensure all of your lights are off. In addition to turning off lights, be sure to watch your other electricity usage as well. Turn off game consoles and be sure to unplug things when they are not in use.
In conclusion, hopefully this article has helped you learn about some incredibly helpful (and free) ways to cut your energy costs now.
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