Most of us pay for them and they are arguably considered a necessary expense. Whether you own your home or rent, you likely pay for basic utilities like electricity, water, sewer, gas, trash pick up, etc. And we likely pay more than we’d like to for them.

While we may not be able to eliminate them, there are things you can do to lower these costs. Monitoring your bills each month and even comparing them to previous months can give you a better idea of how much you actually use and when. Being aware of my usage during different seasons tends to make me more conscious of my actions.

Here are some ways you may be able to reduce some of your utility expenses.

Electricity

• Turn off the lights. If you’re not in the room, you don’t need it.
• Adjust your thermostat to a higher temperature in the summer, like 72 degrees, and cooler in the winter, like 68.
• Change your air filter once a month or at least every season.
• Don’t leave stuff plugged in when you’re not using it. Chargers, hair dryers, curling irons, toasters, etc. They use minimal amounts of electricity just being plugged in. Every little bit adds up.
• Cover your outlets when they don’t have something plugged in them. This helps prevent air from leaking through them.
• Run appliances at night such as the dishwasher, washing machine, or dryer. Electric companies tend to charge more during peak times of day.
• Don’t pre-heat your oven longer than necessary. And don’t forget to turn it off as soon as you’re done.
• Keep the coils on the fridge clean. We don’t pay a lot of attention to this because we don’t see it, but if it’s covered in dust, it’ll have to work harder and use more electricity. And don’t overstuff your fridge and freezer.
• Optimize the fridge and freezer settings. Set the fridge to 38 and the freezer to 5.
• Insulate your doors and windows. Cold or warm air escapes if the seals are damaged. Putting plastic over the windows, especially in the winter, is a great way to reduce the amount of heat that escapes. Use heavy curtains and close them at night.
• Wash clothes on the cold cycle. Running the washer through the hot cycle will require more electricity as it makes the water heater work harder. Hot water is not necessary to get clothes clean and the water in the hot cycle does not actually get hot enough to “sanitize” anything.
• Put a dry towel in the dryer with your clothes when you toss your wet clothes in. They’ll dry faster so you don’t have to run it for so long.
• Turn your water heater down to 120. It’s not good for your skin or hair to be in scalding water anyway.

Water

• Take shorter showers or turn the water off while you’re lathering and back on when you need to rinse.
• Turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth or scrubbing dishes.
• Fix any leaks as soon as you find them.
• Collect rainwater for uses other than drinking, like watering your plants.
• Store cold water in the fridge so you’re not running the faucet longer waiting for it to get cold.
• Wash full loads of laundry or dishes so you’re not running these appliances more often than needed.

In Summary

There are plenty of other great ways to reduce your utility bills. Just do a google search and you’ll get tons of helpful results.

Some utility expenses can’t be altered, but others can, and even if it doesn’t seem like it makes that much of a difference, if you get in the habit of reducing your usage and wasting less overall, those numbers add up. You may not save a lot in 1 months time but if you add up those savings over a years time, it makes a big difference.