Unusual ways to save money on your energy/water bills

[ldserrano]

Does anyone have any "unusual" (forgive me for lack of a better term) tips on how to save money on utilities. Something deferent from your typical list.

Here's one I read recently: lower the level of water in your toilet then put a water bottle full of gravel or some other heavy substance in the tank to displace the water.

Alrighty people, lets hear it!

[Ruthiegirl]

I grew up in the desert and water was always a concern.  When we were kids, we shared baths.  My mom would take the first, because she liked it super hot and after it had cooled down, my brother and I would hop in.  After we were done, the water was scooped into a bucket and carried to the vegetable garden.  We always had a beautiful garden and the soap didn't seem to be a problem.  

Water from my dad's showers was always saved as well.  He would stop the plug and then scoop the standing water when he was done.  

We used to do the 'brick in the tank' thing until last year when we replaced out toilet with a water conserving one.  

My biggest energy saver is simply to turn everything off.  Lights, power strips, the dryer, it all gets used less and less.   Sometimes, my electric bill will creep up and I can always trace it back to dryer usage or holiday baking.  Every time I turn something on, I am reminded that it costs money to run appliances. 

And I would love to tackle the refrigerator.  It is a big energy hog and I would like to replace it with a homebuilt chest freezer-turned frig.  LIke this:  http://johnlvs2run.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/chest-fridge-conversion/

[ldserrano]

i was reading that if you put jugs of water in the fridge, they help keep it cool so it doesn't have to run as much.  i bet the same could go for the freezer.

we are moving into an apartment and i'm trying to figure out a way to keep the bills down.  we used to be military and all the utilities were covered...the water is allocated, so im not too concerned on water bills, mostly electric.  I work graveyard shift and my husband works during the day so I think that will help a lot.  There are only a few hours of the day where we are up and using electricity.  I suppose I can just connect multiple electronics to a power strip and turn them on when we are all home.

Im a big fan of hanging everything to dry, but I hate the crunchiness so i think i'll throw em in the dryer for 10 min just to soften everything up. 

[pek64]

Unplug when no one is home. That will keep costs down, as many appliances are electicity vampires.

[erigeron]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl 

We used to do the 'brick in the tank' thing until last year when we replaced out toilet with a water conserving one.  

An actual brick is a bad idea because it can fall apart, but something like a plastic jug is good. We did that in our old place... that reminds me, we need to do it again!

I have no great suggestions. :( 

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

An actual brick is a bad idea because it can fall apart, but something like a plastic jug is good. We did that in our old place... that reminds me, we need to do it again!

A brick is fine.  Really.  We used the same brick for a decade.  Anything that will displace water will work. 

[jessaroo]

Going through the same thing with a new home.  We immediately put a brick in the toilet.  I replaced the sink with aerators and put in low-flow showerheads.  Our gas company actual sent us 2 aerators and 1 low-flow showerhead.  We have a 5-gallon bucket in the shower to catch the cold water before it is warm enough to get in to water the garden.  I checked with our water utility and there are a lot of rebates.  I got a rebate for the 1 showerhead I purchased.  We set shower timers for the kids or else they would stay in all day. 

[mamarhu]

I take out (or just loosen) the extra bulbs in multi-bulb fixtures. My bathroom has 6 bulbs in a strip, and 2 is plenty. The dining room ceiling fan/lamp has 3 and we just need 2.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl 

Originally Posted by erigeron 

An actual brick is a bad idea because it can fall apart, but something like a plastic jug is good. We did that in our old place... that reminds me, we need to do it again!

A brick is fine.  Really.  We used the same brick for a decade.  Anything that will displace water will work. 

Most bricks now are actually colored concrete and resistant to water and weathering, so I think the advice is no longer relevant, unless you have a real, old-fashioned fired brick which will indeed crumble.  

[pek64]

What about using dimmer switches, of you own your home? Do they save electricity or are they vampires?

[SweetSilver]

We have our own well now, with cisterns for pressure when the pump is off.  The cisterns also collect rainwater from the shed roof next to them, and we use that water for the house as well as the garden (we've had some issues to iron out with silt coming in from both roof and well at different times, but we seem to have ironed those out).  It was quite the investment, though, but necessary due to our dismal water pressure and normally dry summers during which watering needs are sky-high.  We are hoping soon to connect much of our household waste water to a gray water system which will ease our summer water use even further.

For now, our "water" bill is in our electric bill, which was quite reasonable this winter.

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

An actual brick is a bad idea because it can fall apart, but something like a plastic jug is good. We did that in our old place... that reminds me, we need to do it again!

I have no great suggestions. :( 

Do you need to do anything specific before you put the jug in the tank, besides fill it with gravel or something? I would like to try that, as it seems we might be paying too much for our water. (But I'm not sure, this is only the first time we've ever paid our own utilities.)

[SunRise]

Another water saving option (rather then a brick or jug) is to install a dual flush convertor. Fits most toilets and I hear it is easy to install.

Here is an example of one. ($24.99)

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=16937967&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CMKrseX15bUCFSZnOgod0EgAuQ

Most newer toilets are more conservative with water use, but if you have an old toilet, they may be using too much water for flushing. (Not sure how you tell - my plumber told me and I replaced the old, old toilet with a dual flush toto toilet; the other toilet in the house was newer and doesnt use as  much). Another live by notion: " if its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down"

Another saving tip:

Adjust the temperature gauge on the water heater, by just a degree or two lower.

If you have a dehumidifier in the basement, when it fills rather then dumping the water out, pour it into your washing machine. When you do a load of laundry, less new water is needed to fill the machine. Or one can use the water for plants or ???.

If your water bill seems high, it is possible that you have a leaky faucet - call in a plumber or track it down yourself.

Edited by SunRise - 3/7/13 at 6:26am

[skreader]

Behavioral changes:

Showers

• Take showers of 4 minutes or less. You can buy timers.
• Shower like a sailor: get wet. Turn off water. Apply soap and wash. Turn on water and rinse.

I just googled it and saw it's in wikipedia and it's called a "Navy" or Military shower - 2 minutes or less.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_shower

Utilities

In summer - use curtains and shutters and other things to block sunlight and keep your rooms cool.

In winter - wear lots of sweaters and use a hot water bottle and keep the heat off.

Don't have central heating or cooling. I grew up in New England and we tried not to put on heat in our bedrooms in the winter. We heated the living room and kitchen.

If you have air conditioning, only use air conditioning in the room you are using. Avoid using it  at night and try to use a fan instead.

Use tankless hot water heaters

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/tankless-or-demand-type-water-heaters

[Escaping]

I live in Canada so I'm not sure how it is in the rest of the world, but here, there is not much point to being frugal with utilities. Most of our bills are "service charges", "billing fees", "debt reduction fees", "taxes", etc. Very little of our bills are the use of the actual utility. For natural gas, our bill without any actual attempt to be conservative is only about $15-$20 of actual natural gas. The rest is the "delivery charge". With electricity, the bill is about 50% "fees". We have energy saving lightbulbs and use photocell sensors, motion detectors and have energy saving appliances, but don't really modify our behavior. Any new toilet you buy here is so conservative with water that even if there was room to fit a jug or a brick, it wouldn't have enough water for the toilet to actually function lol... They hardly work now as it is, sometimes you have to flush 2-3 times to get the water clean. 

I'd love to go off the grid, have a well and produce my own electricity so I could actually save myself money and not the utility company. 

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by bmcneal 

Do you need to do anything specific before you put the jug in the tank, besides fill it with gravel or something? I would like to try that, as it seems we might be paying too much for our water. (But I'm not sure, this is only the first time we've ever paid our own utilities.)

It needs to be filled with something - gravel, water, sand or whatever will keep it sitting on the bottom of the tank.  I used a brick but a one gallon water jug would work just fine too.

Personally, I hate the low-water use toilets.  We have had several and they all require(d) more than one flush to get the stuff down.  We know several plumbers and they also have the same negative opinion and say they are convinced they are leading for more water usage.

I found programable thermostats to be a money saver.

[Escaping]

Originally Posted by bmcneal 

Do you need to do anything specific before you put the jug in the tank, besides fill it with gravel or something? I would like to try that, as it seems we might be paying too much for our water. (But I'm not sure, this is only the first time we've ever paid our own utilities.)

Originally Posted by Caneel 

It needs to be filled with something - gravel, water, sand or whatever will keep it sitting on the bottom of the tank.  I used a brick but a one gallon water jug would work just fine too.

You can even use a jug of water, just fill it all the way to the top and don't leave air in it.

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by SunRise 

Another water saving option (rather then a brick or jug) is to install a dual flush convertor. Fits most toilets and I hear it is easy to install.

Here is an example of one. ($24.99)

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=16937967&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CMKrseX15bUCFSZnOgod0EgAuQ

Most newer toilets are more conservative with water use, but if you have an old toilet, they may be using too much water for flushing. (Not sure how you tell - my plumber told me and I replaced the old, old toilet with a dual flush toto toilet; the other toilet in the house was newer and doesnt use as  much). Another live by notion: " if its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down"

Another saving tip:

Adjust the temperature gauge on the water heater, by just a degree or two lower.

If you have a dehumidifier in the basement, when it fills rather then dumping the water out, pour it into your washing machine. When you do a load of laundry, less new water is needed to fill the machine. Or one can use the water for plants or ???.

If your water bill seems high, it is possible that you have a leaky faucet - call in a plumber or track it down yourself.

To clarify, I just hate spending money, and while I realize I have to pay my utilities, I would like to pay bare minimum, so things like only one light bulb per fixture or putting a jug of water in the tank, I like. 

[Escaping]

What about switching the breakers off when you leave the house? I'd maybe leave the kitchen on so you fridge doesn't turn off... but the bedrooms/living room probably have a few things which suck power all day that you don't need. 

Also... if you have a main water shutoff to your house, you could try closing it half way to see if slowing down the water into the house conserves anything? Or it might just be really annoying taking half an hour to fill a pot when you go to cook lol

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by Escaping 

I live in Canada so I'm not sure how it is in the rest of the world, but here, there is not much point to being frugal with utilities. Most of our bills are "service charges", "billing fees", "debt reduction fees", "taxes", etc. Very little of our bills are the use of the actual utility. For natural gas, our bill without any actual attempt to be conservative is only about $15-$20 of actual natural gas. The rest is the "delivery charge". With electricity, the bill is about 50% "fees". We have energy saving lightbulbs and use photocell sensors, motion detectors and have energy saving appliances, but don't really modify our behavior. Any new toilet you buy here is so conservative with water that even if there was room to fit a jug or a brick, it wouldn't have enough water for the toilet to actually function lol... They hardly work now as it is, sometimes you have to flush 2-3 times to get the water clean. 

I'd love to go off the grid, have a well and produce my own electricity so I could actually save myself money and not the utility company. 

YES!!!!! Seriously! I can't save on utilities to save my life. Except turning down heat. That's the ONLY thing that makes a difference. We have one room that's electric heat so we can blast it and then turn it right down. Rest of the house is gas. We turn down when it's unneeded and use extra blankets but to be honest no we can't lower our bills. It's ALL service charges...sigh