Today I got thinking about the money I let go to waste. I'm becoming more aware of where every penny goes now that we are thinking about getting a second car. Did you know that running an average air conditioner uses as much energy as 30 ceiling fans? I have an older (I'm sure) air conditioner in this apartment. I think about what it costs to use and wonder why do I turn it on? And then it's muggy and humid like it is tonight and I remember. But after reading that it got me thinking about where else I could save, here's what I've come up with so far.
1. Make sure there are no lights on if the sun is up. This includes following around that pesky kid and reminding to shut off the lights already. When we need lights on I need to make sure we are only using the ones with energy saver bulbs for long periods of time.
2. Get in the habit of shutting the computer off when it will not be used for 8 or more hours. I don't know the specifics about the effects of turning it on and off, but my computer seems to be running better since I started turning it off at night.
3. Make sure I hit the power strips when that stuff isn't in use. Months ago we put all the non essential TV stuff (everything but the cable box) on power strips to save alittle extra energy. Did you know that TV's, game consoles, etc use energy even when they are off?
4. Run the AC less. I don't enjoy sweating at home, but I've decided that we don't need the AC as much during the day. Don't ask me what I think in July and August when it's 100 degrees out. We need the cooler temps to sleep (Shawn and Dave don't sleep well when they are warm) so if it's not cool enough with the fans running then I'll turn on the air, but we are going to do our best to leave it off for as long as possible. The unbearable days will be here soon enough.
5. Get the kid off the music all night. Currently Shawn listens to music all night long which requires running a stereo all night. I don't know what effect this has on my electric bill but it can't be good. He also has a nightlight that is on all night, so Mommy says one of them has to go.
Let me know what you are doing to cut down your bills. I could use the extra help.
3 comments:
I really try and save electricty. Turn lights off, unplug things, hang laundy, what ever I can.
Being that you are in an apt., do you have an outdoor space where you could put small appliances like crockpots, etc to cook in the summer like a patio or porch I do most of my cooking outdoors so as to not make the A/C work harder.
I wish there was a patio here. Unfortunately as soon as you open the door you are outside. We do have chairs and stuff to eat out there though. To make it worse especially during the summer we have a gas stove and when you turn the oven on it gets very warm in here.
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