Saving money is great. Saving lots of money is even better. Knowing how to save lots of money can be a challenge. Today we rounded up a few of our favorite no-cost ways to save energy and money this summer.
1 – Use natural light. Open the curtains and turn off the lights! I can’t tell you how many times as a parent I have to remind our kids (and yes, even myself) to turn the lights off. This mainly applies if you aren’t using the room the lights are in or you leave the house. I typically have 1 or 2 lights on, but definitely not all of the lights.
2 – Run full loads. In our home, I wait to wash and dry clothes or wash dishes until the loads are full. This is a really great way to save energy and money! Also, make sure you don’t run your dishwasher or washing machine during peak hours.
3 – Open the doors and windows. We live in the prairies and are lucky enough to enjoy beautiful weather throughout the year. If you are able to, try to open the windows and doors (screens help keep bugs and animals out) instead of turning on the air conditioner. If you live somewhere that requires the use of an air conditioner, be sure to keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature and turn it down when you’re not home.
4 – Use cold water. When possible, use cold water in your washer loads. This can save a good amount of energy!
5 – Turn water off when shaving, washing hands, brushing teeth.
6 – Take shorter showers & install low-flow toilets. Turn the water off when lathering up is an easy way to get save time and money!
7 – Upgrade to LED lights throughout your home. I wanna say it was a few years ago that we upgraded to LED lights. The sticker shock on the bulbs was a little daunting at first but they really does help save energy and money by doing so. If you haven’t done so yet, I encourage you to upgrade your light bulbs to LED.
8 – Upgrade your appliances. These days, there are so many appliances available out there that are energy efficient. This can cut down big time on your electric bill because they don’t use as much energy as the old school ones did.
9 – Use the right temperature. Keep your fridge and freezer at their ideal temperature. For your fridge this is between 2°C and 3°C and your freezer should be at -18°C.
10 – Get everyone on board. As a parent, it’s important to get your family on board to save energy in your home. Not only is it better for the environment, but it can leave your family with more spending money to do things together! Don’t just tell your kids to turn off the lights, but explain to them why it’s important to do so.
11 – Reduce heat in the kitchen. Avoid using the oven in summer – try salads, smoothies or fire up your barbecue. You’ll reduce the heat in your home and save on your home cooling costs.
What do you do to help conserve energy in your home?
Get everyone on board…Now that’s solid advice. We need to have a talk with the kiddos about this this summer!
Thanks for the tips! We use LED lights, and cold water for laundry.
Great tips/reminders for this new season we’re going into. My husband is always getting on me to find ways to cut costs on bills, so these will definitely help out!
These are great tips. Our carbon foot print is pretty good but we could do a lot better with our water conservation.
I do everything you mentioned – except open the doors and windows. We live in Florida and it’s already in the 90’s.
These are great ideas! Some I’m doing but others I need to implement right away now that he weather is getting warmer!
We do about all of these things and then some. We reduced our energy bill nearly in half last year when we installed a new central unit. We also use sun blocking curtains and blinds which help in the hot summers here in the south. Rates are higher between the hours of 3 pm to 8 pm so we never run the washer, dryer or dishwasher during those times.
I think you have all of them listed here that we do. I also use cold water to wash our clothes, that seems to help conserve as well.
One way we save energy is that we don’t move the temp on the air conditioner. It stays at the same temp every day. If your hot turn on a fan if your cold layer up.
I always prefer eco-friendly life. These tips are so valuable. Everyone should save as much energy as possible.
These are great reminders! I’m always having to tell people to turn off the water while they’re brushing their teeth!
These are good tips. My husband just put LED lights in so I am glad it will help us save money. I really like opening up the curtains and letting natural light in too.
Solid tips! We have windows on all sides of our new house and our bills have gone down with lowered use of AC and natural light. I need to be better about the cold water.
Thanks!
🙂
Traci
Oh, I do just about all of these things. It helps that I hate air conditioning too! Doors and windows open, blinds closed when the sun is beating on that side of the house. I think I do a good job keeping it cool!
These are great tips, and I’m going to try using only cold water when I do laundry. I always feel like that’s not going to get my clothes as clean. But I do need to lower our energy bills!
I always thought that way too but you can buy laundry soap specifically designed for cold water use.