How Can I Save Money Around The House?
By Scott Moore, RealtorEveryone who’s been to the grocery store or gas pump recently knows that everything is getting more expensive, which is making us all think a little harder about places in our lives where we can save money. For most of us, our biggest expense is our home.
The good news is that there are many simple and effective ways to save money around the house. Some take time to learn and others will come naturally.
I am sure we can all still hear our mom yelling for us to turn off the lights. Guess what? She was right! Reducing our home energy consumption is the first place to start.
How can I Reduce energy consumption:
Remember your mom telling you to put on a sweater before turning up the heat? Right again. Heating and cooling accounts for 46% of your energy bill. Set your thermostat a degree or two lower in winter (try for 68F/18C) and higher in summer (78F/25C). If that’s too much during the day, invest in a timer for your thermostat to hit those targets overnight when it won’t bother you as much. You can save 3 to 4% on heating costs by setting your thermostat at least 3°C lower for 8 hours a day.
Service your AC and furnace yearly. Change your furnace filter every 90 days.
In summer, draw the curtains during the day and set ceiling fans to counterclockwise to create a cooling downdraft. In winter, it’s the opposite; keep blinds open and set ceiling fans to clockwise to recirculate the warm air.
Wet appliances (clothes washer and dishwasher) are the biggest energy-drains of all your appliances. Only run full loads, and wash clothes on cold water.
Ovens not only use energy, but they heat the home, increasing the load on your AC. Naturally in summer we want to eat cool foods and use the BBQ anyways, so run with that. Always choose the smallest appliance for the job—toaster oven, air fryer and microwave are better choices than the oven, when possible. An air fryer uses 50% less energy than the oven!
Turn off the lights when you leave a room and use LED light bulbs.
Buy energy-efficient appliances. The average lifespan of a freezer is 17 years so buying the best quality you can afford with max energy-efficiency in mind will pay off for years.
Unplug electronics and appliances when you're not using them. Standby mode for video games, computers and TVs needlessly drains energy and accounts for up to 10% of your home’s energy bill!
Seal drafts around windows and doors with weatherstripping and be sure that your door is tight once it's closed to reduce drafts. Better quality windows, and more insulation in the attic, basement and around pipes are one of the most impactful ways of saving energy, but of course these are also the biggest-ticket items. Efficiency Manitoba https://efficiencymb.ca/my-home/ has information about rebates, loans and incentives for big and small projects, so check there if you’re thinking you need bigger projects.
But do small changes amount to anything significant?
I found these estimates on the values of some of these changes:
1. Unplug electronics when not in use = $109/year
2. Seal gaps around doors and windows = $209/year
3. Turn off-lights when not in use = $41/year
4. Wash clothes on cool water & do one less load per week = $50/year
5. Dry clothes on the line for 4 months of the year = $40/year
6. Keep your shower to 4 mins long = $160/year
7. TOTAL= savings of $609/year
Personally, for $40/year, I think I’ll still use my dryer. But the other changes are minimal impact on my lifestyle, and if it means I can keep more than $500 a year in my jeans, I’m all in.
The fun part of this is that Manitoba Hydro WANTS you to use less energy, and you can log into your account online and see how your use (and bill) is changing as you implement these changes. https://www.hydro.mb.ca/online_account/
How Can I Conserve Water?
Conserving water saves money on the water bill, but a lot of it probably also saves money on the hydro bill too, as heating the water is a large part of your home’s energy use. It’s a classic win-win.
Find and fix leaks. Winnipeg Water & Waste says that 14% of the average home’s water bill is leaks! Here’s how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq9QRd5a0-E
Toilets account for 24% of the average water use in Winnipeg. Installing a Water Sense Toilet decreases consumption by 20% compared with a conventional toilet.
Install Water Sense showerheads and faucets, which can reduce consumption by 40%.
Take shorter showers, 4-5 mins max.
Don’t let the water run down the drain while brushing your teeth.
Only run the dishwasher and washing machine when full.
A rain barrel costs about $100 and provides free water for watering plants & grass indefinitely. Position it under your downspout to collect rainwater.
Water your lawn in the morning when it’s cool outside to prevent evaporation. When you water, truly soak the lawn, which requires less water overall than multiple short sprinkles.
It sounds simple but take care to position sprinklers correctly, so you water the grass and not the sidewalk!
Direct your sump pump discharge hose onto the lawn to repurpose that water.
Do a deep dive into your bills:
In this era of subscription apps and TV channels, we all have more subscriptions out there than we need. Do a full audit of your bank and credit card statements and identify what subscriptions you have and whether you need them. There are also apps that will do this for you (for a subscription fee! haha!).
When you’re looking at your bills, keep an eye out for late payment fees. If you find any, set up auto-payments to eliminate those fees.
Watch for trends. How often do you see coffee or fast food coming up? What’s the total on those Amazon charges? Are you still using your gym membership? How often (and how expensive) is date night? If there are charges that don’t look great, plan to reduce them by 20%, ie: make your coffee at home once a week or go for a cheap bike ride date every so often. Big changes are very hard to sustain, so you’re more likely to be successful with smaller changes.
Call all your service providers—cable, cell phone, insurance, lawn care, pool maintenance, etc. Make sure your current plan is the best plan for you and ask for better pricing. What if you pay annually, can they give you a better deal?
You can’t ignore the grocery and restaurant budget. Meal planning does take time & energy, but it saves money, prevents emergency take-out, is less wasteful, and probably healthier too.
Debt is a big one too. As interest rates are climbing, debt that used to be no big deal is suddenly becoming a big deal. If you find yourself face-first with what you’re paying in interest, hopefully all the changes above will result in some savings that you can re-direct into getting rid of that debt.
Probably most of what you’ve read here isn’t news to you. Most of us know what we need to do to get our home finances in check, and its just a matter of doing it. Remember that multiple small changes will add up to significant savings over time and once these changes become habits, you can reduce your household expenses quickly! Good luck!
Sources:
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/energy_saving_tips/
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/heating_and_cooling/thermostats/
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/hub/quick-tips-to-save-energy/
https://www.directenergy.com/learning-center/what-uses-most-electricity-in-my-home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzBqYXKhTWs
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-find-a-water-leak/
https://legacy.winnipeg.ca/waterandwaste/water/conservation/tipsResidential.stm
https://legacy.winnipeg.ca/waterandwaste/water/conservation/default.stm