ENERGY BOOMER

Save Money by Saving Water

Those of us who use “city” water want to save money by saving water because the amount we pay for our monthly water bill keeps going up.

There are a couple of reasons why the cost of water is headed up. The ever increasing cost of energy to pump the water is part of the problem.

The other reason that water bills are going up is the increasing cost of operating wastewater treatment plants. For most of us, our water meters are used to bill us twice. Once for the amount of water used and a second time to bill us for sewage.

The sewer part of the bill is likely to be more than twice as expensive as the water portion of the bill. The rising cost of electrical power to operate the water treatment equipment is part of the problem, but so is the cost to meet the ever increasing burden of government regulations.

Those of you who are lucky enough to live outside of an area served by a city water system have to pay for your own water supply and waste treatment system. A major part of your electric bill is for power to run a well pump.

If you have well water and a septic system you may not experience a monthly bill the way city folks do. From personal experience I know you should be setting money aside monthly to maintain you private water works.

When the cost of fixing you water well or septic system hits, it can take a big chunk of your savings account to get it all working again. The less water you use in your day to day life the less often you will have those big maintenance bills.

So How Do I Save Water?

I waste water. How is that for a confession? I grew up and still live in the part of the USA where the Great Lakes are the major geographical feature. According to the EPA, the Great Lakes hold about 21% of the world’s fresh water or 84% of the fresh water in the USA. I have been spoiled with that abundance of fresh water.

I know folks who live in dry states that think I commit major crimes because of my water wasteful ways. Their bathroom rule of “if it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down” does save water, but I don’t like it.

Some relatively small changes in the way you do things at home can reduce your water use.

I have volunteered to stop shaving to save water, but my wife won’t let me. Every day, I need to remind myself to shave using only a wash basin full of hot water rather than just letting the hot water flow continuously.

Long showers are a luxury that I indulge in only when I am staying at a hotel. Never at home where I pay the energy and water bills. I figure that if I am paying the bill for a hotel I should get my monies worth of hot water.

I like the idea of saving water by bathing with a friend. But, those showers tend to take a lot longer and use more water than usual.

If you use a dish washing machine it uses about the same amount of water and energy whether it is a small load or a full load of dirty dishes. So it saves you money to do full loads only.

The same idea applies to the clothes washer. If you absolutely need to do a small load of clothes be sure you adjust the water level to avoid wasting water.

Don’t let the men folk help wash dishes by hand. They tend to start water battles that waste water. Unless you are very frugal with hand washing your dish washing machine will use less water.

Don’t put more water in the tea kettle than your tea pot will hold.

Don’t drown them in excess water when boiling vegetables. Better yet, steam those vegetables. Steaming uses far less water and doesn’t wash away as many nutriments.

I water flowers and the vegetable garden in the late evening so it soaks in before evaporating.

I avoid watering the grass because that just makes it grow and then I will need to be mowed sooner.

If you really want to water the grass make the water do double duty by parking your car on the lawn and washing the car. Wash the car and water the grass with the same water.

For more ideas on saving money by reducing you water use you can read my old article titled Do You Know a Teenager Who Takes Long Showers?

Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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Save Money by Using Energy Just Where You Need it

One of the key principles for saving money is to focus energy just where you need it. The best way to understand this principle is by looking at some examples.

Put Heat Just Where People Need it

You can save money on your home heating bill by heating just the rooms you use. The reason we heat our homes is to keep people comfortable so putting the heat just where people are will reduce waste.

We don’t heat the garage because people don’t spend much time there. If you are working on your car, it is a good idea to use a portable heater. But, heat it just while you are working there.

Inside the house you can save by keeping the rooms that you use the most warmer and letting the rest cool off. Using a space heater to keep the family room a warm 72 while the rest of the house is at a cool 65 is an example of this. (This will work only if the main thermostat is not in the warm room.)

At night when folks are in the in bed for eight hours or so, you should focus energy just on the bed. Using an electric blanket, electric mattress pad or a warm quilt to keep people warm will let you save money by turning your thermostat way down.

At work, office areas should be heated to the 69 to 73 temperature range, but factory work areas can be cooler. 66 degrees is a comfortable working temperature where there is physical activity. Overnight, unoccupied areas should be allowed to cool off. 

Air Condition people not things

Avoid air conditioning empty rooms to save money. If you have a spare bedroom, don’t cool it.

If no one is home don’t cool an empty house. The same idea works at work. If your office is unoccupied over the weekend don’t waste energy heating or cooling it. Your fax machine doesn’t care about the temperature.

Focus the Light on the Job to be Done

Reading lamps are the classic example of using light just where needed. Task lights allow us to put enough light where it is needed without over lighting the whole room.

Another at home example is in the kitchen. We need plenty of light over the stove and where food is being prepared. We don’t need as much light where the trash can is located.

We want good light in the dining area but less light is needed in hallways. A lamp right next to your favorite chair helps you read the newspaper, but it can be switched off when you watch TV.

At work we need really good light at quality inspection areas. We don’t need that high intensity light in the traffic aisles. Task lighting saves money by tailoring the amount of illumination based on the work to be done in that area.

If you understand and apply the idea of focusing energy just where you need it you can save money of your utility bills.

Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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