Hello all. One week from today we all (in US) celebrate Thanksgiving. Goodness, the time has just flown by. It is a very overcast and cloudy day here. Feels damp out, as we had fog and just a tad of mist. It sure is muddy out now! Looks to stay close in temp all day, to what it is right now - upper 40's.
I did go out and ran a few errands yesterday and had a very nice day. Nothing but sweet and kind people.
As winter approaches and the temps are falling, and utility prices are rising - it is time to think about a few ways to help yourself and perhaps get the bills a bit lower.
- Try lowering the temperature on the water heater. Most people keep it about 140* - but 120* is plenty hot
- Use cold water washes when possible
- Try air drying laundry and just fluffing. Or dry for a lesser amount of time
- If using a dishwasher - open after wash and let items air dry. It also allows humidity back into the house
- Unplug things that are not in use. TV's in rooms not used, chargers - only plug in when needed, etc. The only small appliance I keep plugged in, in the kitchen is the microwave, as the plug is very hard to get to. Nothing else in the kitchen (other than major appliances) stays plugged in. TV's and chargers today, are actually pulling electricity even when OFF - as they are never really off
- Ceiling fans - have them on a low speed going clockwise. That pushes the heat from the ceiling down into your room
- Turn down the thermostat. Lower a couple degrees at a time, until you get used to lower temps
- Set your freezer to 0* - that is the optimum temp.
- On sunny days, keep blinds or curtains open to allow the sun to naturally warm your home
- Keep furnace filters clean
- Insulate everything you can. Make sure your walls and attic space is insulated. Insulate around windows and doors and even light switches. Fix all leaks - around doors and such. Even using a draft dodger at the door bottom helps a lot. You can easily make one.
- Use your oven wisely. It draws a lot of energy. Think about using air fryer, toaster oven, or crockpots
- If you use the oven, when done and you turn it off - leave the oven door cracked open a bit to release the heat into the house. **Watch out for children and pets
- Use LED light bulbs - they use way less electricity - like 80% less!
- Dress in layers - you can take things off if you get too warm. Enables you to be able to keep the thermostat down. You can layer bedding as well.
- Don't over fill the refrigerator!! If you tend to cram things in - it has to use more electricity to stay cool
- Thinking about using heavy or thermal curtains. You can also use those films over your windows to keep out air
- Drink warm things - tea, coffee, hot chocolate
- Turn off lights in rooms you are not in!
- Take shorter showers - the water heater will work less.
Oh gosh, I am sure there are dozens of more things that you can do. Every little thing helps. I know our electric company has really raised its rates, and I have read that is happening elsewhere as well.
Do all the little things - they add up. We all need to participate to keep our bills lower.
I have what is called a budget plan - I pay the same amount every month of the year - but even that increased this fall. I want my usage to be lower, so I will continue to do all I can to can do.
Do you have any tips that I didn't mention to help? Let us know.
May you all have a lovely day and weekend.
Spread cheer and joy!
Excellent tips for controlling utility bills! We keep our thermostat at 68*. My theory is to wear more or less clothes instead of messing with the dial. Seldom use hot water to wash clothes.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed gloomy today. Looks like a true November day. Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks. I keep mine about the same. I just got chilly sitting here, so I wrapped an afgan around my shoulders - feels so much better. I always wear layers. I most always use cold water in my laundry. It still comes clean!
DeleteYes, it is surely a November day. Icky and gloomy. I can't seem to get warm today!
Thank you for the card!!!!!!
You are most welcome, my friend!
DeleteAll very good tips! I wash everything in cold water, even sheets and towels. I use my toaster oven more than I use my big oven. I need to look at how I can fix (or temporarily block) the leaks around my old windows, one in particular. I do not know the temp of my freezer and will check it because I do sometimes think it’s too cold. I do use the dryer but I have it for a short period.
ReplyDeleteThere is a “rebellion” in my area about electric bills. In some cases it’s the rates but in other cases people don’t want to change the temp of their a/c. You would not believe some of the bills - $500, $600, $700. My highest summer bill was $127. We had several extra hot months this summer. My electric company as well as the one in the neighboring county raised rates to cover repairs for last year’s hurricanes. I can understand it because the whole system had to be rebuilt along our beaches and many poles were down even in my area. That higher rate will end in February.
I hardly use the oven much anymore. I use the air fryer a lot. I will use the oven for the holiday baking. I read the lower than zero really does no more good.
DeleteI can really understand higher rates when the entire system had to be rebuilt. Not sure how people think those repairs would be fixed. You know they would scream if they hadn't been. Nice that the rate will end soon.
No one seems to want to make changes in their ways - they just think things will always stay the same.
It's a rainy gloomy day here. All great tips on electricity. We keep our heat on 68. It used to be 67 but TBG is always so cold. Everything keeps going up in price doesn't it? I hope you have a great day!!
ReplyDeleteYes, gloomy here as well. Just feels chilly. That is about where I keep mine t-stat too. Glen would be freezing if he were here! He liked it warm - almost too warm in my book.
DeleteYes indeedy - everything goes up. We just do what we can to offset it. Thanks
We've gone the other direction. Hubster's particular chemo has him very cold. So we're at 70d/65n instead of 65/62. and he's still cold wrapped up like burrito. I'm the menopausal melon and roasting. Fortunately we are conservationists on nearly every other possibility! Years ago, I asked him to hang a double clothes line in my sewing room and at least 65% of laundry hangs to dry which I love.
ReplyDeleteOven: when I cook roasts, I buy the biggest I can find (on sale of course), braise and then slow roast in the oven. I shred it and then freeze all but 2-3 meals worth. 3 months of shredded beef meals for a 4h oven at 275. And the "gravy/broth" is a bonus! We do the same with smoking pork butt :-)
Happy Thursday ya'll!
We used to be opposites - I was cold and he was hot. Then at some point we switched that all up! I think menopause for me. Glen sure wanted it warm in winter.
DeleteThat is a great idea to cook the most you can when the oven is on, great way to utilize.
One can do that with many things - roasting veggies, baking potatoes - various desserts at the same time, etc.
Great list of tips! I also keep a cozy blanket near my chair in the living room and I use that to keep warmer rather than turning up the thermostat. Jenny
ReplyDeleteThanks. I just did that. I have on a long sleeve t-shirt and a sweatshirt - but I felt chilly. Just wrapped around my back and arms - much better. Simple little things - yet they make a big difference.
DeleteThanks for the reminder to get out my old towels to insulate the bottom of the patio slider.
ReplyDeleteMy electricity level pay went up $10 last month, even though my usage hasn't changed. Big rate hike, I suppose. It has more than doubled in my 20 years in this house. Our paycheck hasn't! We keep the winter temp at 65°\60°, but that mostly affects the gas bill.
I found out just how miserly we are in terms of electric usage in the first couple of years we lived here. Our initial bills were $150-$200 every month and I was freaking out! I was unplugging everything at night ... microwave, tv, etc. Several months after we moved in, I found out why. I got a letter from the energy company that said I needed to unlock my gate because they hadn't been able to read our meter at all since we moved in! And they averaged the bill based on neighborhood usage. They finally read the meter and I got another letter that it would be replaced as it wasn't functioning correctly. Then I got another letter that I had a credit and not to pay the bill. I didn't pay another electric bill for nearly TWO years !!! They must've checked our meter 3 times haha!! My gosh, how do people use so much electricity??
Hoping for some rain on the prairie today. Everything is so dry and our sprinklers are off for the season.
Those towels work wonders. I even remember mom used to fold newspaper and slide in any other areas of the door where it wasn't tight.
DeleteI got a new second meter several years ago - for the garage. They actually thought something was wrong with it, because for several months there was no activity. Unless winter and plugging in heated bowls - I don't use power out there. I guess we had a lazy reader at one point - because they kept estimating the house, and I finally had 8 months of no pay! So I totally get it - but wow, 2 years!!!
Some people just don't realize how much they use. Everything on all the time. I have neighbors that never turn off porch lights, and one neighbor that leaves basement lights and TV on 24/7! Craziness.
I'd send some of our rain if I could.
Unless I’m washing towels, I wash our clothes in cold water. I read recently how much it costs to wash clothes in warm or hot water and there is significant savings in the cold water
ReplyDeleteThere really are savings to be had. Most people don't really even have really dirty clothes. Same with the dryer - I hang up until basically dry and then fluff for about 10 minutes.
DeleteThat's funny, Cheryl. I fluff for about 10 minutes and *then* hang up to dry! Except for towels, they are dried hanging up, no fluff. I like scratchy towels. :)
DeleteMaryB
All good ideas! I have been washing clothes in cold water, it seems like forever. The biggest change I made when I lived in my big house was getting rid of the old freezer (35-40 years) and use only the fridge freezer. Perhaps a more energy efficient one would have been better, but going only to the fridge freezer saved me nearly $20 a month. With only the two of us, I was able to manage using just the fridge freezer and it meant I wasn't wasting food either that got forgotten (or lost) in the bigger freezer.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good tip. I like having more than a frig freezer allows, but many people do just fine with just that. It would save funds on electric.
DeleteNo lost items - that is a money saver too.
Excellent tips and I use all of them at one time or another. I just have to keep reminding Harvey to turn off the lights in rooms he is no longer in.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thanks - it is easy to forget. It really takes a while to become a habit. Most things do.
DeleteLittle things ad up.
Such good ideas! I dread the winter bills for sure so any suggestions are helpful. Opening up the curtains and turning off all lights seem to really help here ...of course it gets dark at 530 so the help doesn't last long LOL. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I get tired of all the darkness. It seems to last so long. But hey, in a month we have the shortest day and it all starts reversing! Trying to stay positive.
DeleteI am fortunate in my apartment the breaker box is in my suite. I keep my microwave, my stove my tv etc. off except when using them. I use all your tips. I use small appliances to cook in I.e. electric fry pan, griddle, small 110v oven etc. Wherever I feel cold I plug around my a/c with old cloth, I use blackout curtains to stop the cold coming in. I spend roughly $600 per year. Keep in mind we can often have temperatures as low as -35C to -40C. Keep the tips coming, you are doing a great job.
ReplyDeleteThat is nice that you have an easy way to turn off breakers. I still have my electric skillet which I haven't used in years - now I use the air fryer. Less mess and calories.
DeleteThat is super good on the yearly expense. You live in a very cold place - so kudos for figuring out ways to keep the utility low.
Thank you - I appreciate it. Nice to have you here.
I was reading an old magazine and do you know drinking HOT Dr. Pepper was a thing back then? I might just try it. lol
ReplyDeleteIt seems that I have heard that before. Not sure it is something I would like (not a Dr. Pepper fan), but it might be worth a try!
DeleteWell it is supposed to hit 79 degrees here today, but it is rainy. However, it is supposed to turn colder here after Thanksgiving. One thing I hate paying for is electricity, bc it is so easy to waste it and not even realize it. For example, I leave for work at 5 am. I have the outside light on to see to get down the steps and I sometimes forget to turn it off immediately when I come home. Ugh. I never know what time I will arrive back home and sometimes I am glad the light it on bc it is dark when I get home!!!I have made the decision to move into my living room this winter and shut off the bedrooms. That way I am only heating the kitchen, bathroom, and living room in this small house. I “hope” I can tolerate setting the thermostat at 64 and forgetting about it. In other words, not crank it up… lol. I do sleep in a sleeping bag rated for cold temps but sleep on the inside of the house! I have thermal curtains. Of course my new windows and back door significantly improved how cool my house stayed this summer, so I anticipate seeing an improvement this winter regarding heat. That was an expensive thing to do though. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteGosh 79 sounds good. You will be getting the rain we have had this week! We are supposed to get cold at Thanksgiving too.
DeleteIt is very easy to forget about our usage of electricity and forget to turn things off.
I can understand having your porch light on when leaving. I wouldn't want to go out in the dark either. You have a reason to have yours on - my neighbors just never turn theirs off and they stay home. New windows should help your home stay warmer for the winter.
64 sounds a little too chilly for me in the house - but it's funny, if it were spring and hit 64, I would be out in a t-shirt and no jacket! It is all perspective.
That is really cutting back the usage of your home. I hope it works for you!
I think your list is a great one! About two years ago we for the most part stopped using our dryer and started hanging wet clothes on racks in our basement. I was shocked that our electric bill dropped around $100 less per month!!!! And this is just a small household of three people, so imagine what a large family may save if cutting dryer use! Of course in emergencies or with things too large for us to hang easily we will use the dryer, but I sure do like that $100 savings!!!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I would add to your list—and you kinda already mentioned it was to appreciate small, simple things. I received a gift today of 50 writing pens—but with purple ink! It made me so happy I laughed and started making up a silly poem about purple pens—and THAT made my daughter laugh and she insisted I write my poem down. It’s silly, but it sure did give both of us a smile—and appreciation and a little poetry was completely free! I even put the poem on my blog here: https://jesuscallsmefriend.blogspot.com/2025/11/ode-to-purple-pen.html
So that is my recommendation—appreciate simple. And a good sense of humor and laughter is free and anybody can have it!
Wow a $100 savings a month is huge. I don't use my dryer much, just to fluff and like you said for those big items.
DeleteWhat fun! I do like colored ink. It just makes you feel better when you write something in colored ink. Silly, isn't it - but it seems to work. Plan on going over to read here in a minute.
Yes the simple things in life are sure worth paying attention to. They are much bigger than they seem. Laughter is such a wonderful thing. I am a huge fan of smiling and laughter - it seems to be contagious!!!!
The situation re power, water bills is going to get worse unless average folks demand that AI be regulated. AI data centers are electricity and water hogs. I read that one large AI data center can use up as much electricity as 800,000 homes. There are already cost issues in some areas where people suffer rising bills because of these monstrosities.
ReplyDeleteNot heard of that. Ours has gone up because of building new water sewer lines, and redoing a lot of the power grid in the area. Other places because of hurricanes, fires and such.
DeleteYes, this is true about AI data centers.
DeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteHaving light to get back into the house was a problem because I could not see the keyhole. So, I bought a bulb for the outdoor light that goes off at dawn and on when light is gone at night. It has been a lifesaver. Plus, I feel more secure in the dark.
Also, closing off bedrooms will cause humidity to ruin things in the bedrooms.
Dusk to dawn lights are nice. They really do help in the darkness. I keep registers closed in the extra bedroom, no need to have them open. No problems
DeleteI love, love, love our day light white balance LED bulbs. So pretty and bright and not heavy on the coin. Happy Weekend!
ReplyDeleteI like soft light. There are so many to choose from now that save $.
DeleteSuch great tips, Cheryl!
ReplyDeleteThanks - hope we all keep those utilities a LITTLE lower!
Delete