With the demand for electricity and natural gas rising, right along with energy costs, American homeowners can easily spend hundreds of dollars a month on utility bills.
“From heating and cooling larger homes to powering today’s high-tech electronics, we are using more energy than ever and that is certainly hitting many homeowners in their pocketbooks,” says David Juarez, owner of DJ’s Painting and Remodeling in Bloomington. “But there are ways to stretch your dollar further by evaluating how you spend money on energy and making a few simple, smart, energy-efficient home improvements.”
Here are some practical tips and advice that can help the average homeowner find $500 in energy savings by reducing your home’s energy consumption.
- $215 in the living room: Replace your five most frequently used incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs for a savings of $65 each year. These bulbs use less energy and can last up to 10 times longer. In addition, install a programmable thermostat, which can help control the temperature while you’re away from home or at night when you’re sleeping. When used properly, these thermostats can save as much as $150 per year in energy costs.
- $145 in the bathroom: Replace your existing shower head with a new 2.5-gallon-per-minute (low-flow) shower head. The new water efficient shower head coupled with a 10-minute shower will save 5 gallons of water over a typical bath and up to $145 each year on electricity used to heat the water.
- $74 in the laundry room: To save hot water, and the $24 to $40 in fuel that it takes to heat that water each year, wash your clothes in cold water. Be sure to choose a laundry detergent that is formulated for use in cold temperatures. Save another $34 each year by cleaning the lint trap in your clothes dryer before every load of laundry, which will help increase the drying efficiency of the machine.
- $36 in the basement or utility room: Lower the temperature on your hot water heater from 145 degrees to 120 degrees — the only place you’ll notice the difference is on your utility bill. In fact, this slight reduction in temperature can save the average homeowner between $36 and $61 each year.
- $35 in the kitchen. To keep your hard-earned money from literally going down the drain, be sure to repair faucet leaks at the kitchen sink. Hot water leaking at a rate of one drip per second can waste up to 1,661 gallons of water annually and up to $35 in electricity or natural gas.
Total savings: Over $500
DJ’s Painting & Remodeling is a locally-owned, full-service painting and remodeling company. For information on any painting or remodeling project, you may contact them at 309-452-9643, email: sales@djspaintinginc.com, or visit them online at www.djspaintinginc.com.
Content by Brandpoint