Nickel And Dime Tip - Hot Water

Here's a point I read awhile back that I thought I'd share:

Have you ever rinsed something, or washed your hands so quickly that even though your tap was set for warm or hot water, the hot water didn't have a chance to travel through the pipes before you turned the water off?

Essentially you ended up using cold anyway - no big deal. But unless you had the tap set for cold (in our case, pushed all the way to the right), there was still water taken from the hot water tank and drawn into the pipes. This means that more water will have to be heated to replace it.

It's such a small amount (not even pennies?) each time, until you consider adding up every single time the tap is turned on and off (on and off, on and off).

If the still cold water that comes out of the tap is fine for what you need, why take it from the hot water tank?


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Being Green Pays Off In Hydro And Gas Savings

Ha! So it is worth wearing an extra sweater and weaning myself off my old "light junkie" habits ;-)

I wonder if it makes any difference some days, when I can't seem to get warm, and I can't summon the energy to get up off the couch to turn off the bathroom light left on by one of the kids, but then... our bills arrive, bringing with them renewed inspiration.

First, let's look at hydro. (This would be me chasing after the kids, sending them back to their rooms to turn lights off. "Who's watching that TV? No one? OK can we turn it off please?") Turn off, unplug, turn off, unplug... you get the picture.

This month is the third month in a row that we've had a credit balance on our bill, and we'll probably get one more credit month as well. This of course is pre-paid hydro from being on the equal payment plan, and ideally the money could be in our bank account earning interest, but the fact that our credit this year equals about four months is evidence of our decreased consumption.

Confirming this is the "Daily Average Comparison" featured on the bill, which reads as follows:

Jan 2008 58 kWh
Jan 2009 30 kWh

This year we are using just slightly more than half of the hydro we used last year, all from unplugging things while not in use, and turning off unnecessary lights.

Next let's look at gas, which we use for heating and cooking.

We recently installed new windows, and I think they are the main reason that our gas consumption is less. I do try and use the toaster oven when I can instead of the gas oven, and I've been hanging most of our clothes to dry as well. According to our bill, the weather has been colder this January than last, and yet our gas usage has been less:

Jan 2008 Average daily temp: 4C; Average daily gas usage: 0.52 GJ
Jan 2009 Average daily temp: 0C; Average daily gas usage: 0.37 GJ

Our monthly installment payment has gone down from $147.00 to $127.00.

You wonder (at least I did) when you turn off that extra light or turn the heat down that half degree if it really makes any difference. Apparently so!

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5 More Things To Try Using Less Of

Here's a continuation of a previous post called "10 Things To Try Using Less Of". I was browsing through older posts and thought "hmmm, what else can I cut back on?"

1) Peanut butter - my kids love this on everything. I usually just slather it on, but I really could get away with using less.

2) Condiments - I can try putting less ketchup, etc., on my kids' plates, and only add more if they finish what they have.

3) Potatoes - we have a bad habit in our household of peeling too many potatoes when we make them mashed. We usually end up putting the pot on the floor so the dog can lick up the leftovers (but hey, do we save in dog food? ;-) I'm going to start using fewer potatoes from now on.

4) Toothpaste - you really only need a small dab, if you are brushing correctly and flossing as well. I need to supervise my kids more to make sure they're not squeezing out big globs of the stuff!

5) Bread - here's one I do already, but I thought it was worth mentioning. If I make full sized sandwiches for my kids (i.e. two slices each), I usually end up feeding leftovers to the dog. I've started limiting them to one slice per day, and now they finish what they're given, as well as eat more specifically nutrient dense foods (such as apples) because they're not over filled with bread.

There you go - more saving ideas to try. (As long as I don't make myself cut back on laptop power usage, I should be fine ;-)
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Saving Money On Hydro

Finally.... some results from all my unplugging and switching off and turning down and and and... you get the picture.

We have an equal payment plan with BC Hydro which enables us to more effectively budget our electricity costs from month to month. They estimate your monthly cost based on previous consumption and bill you accordingly. October is the yearly anniversary month, when they tally up where you stand.

If you've consumed more than you've been billed, you get a larger bill. However if you consume less, you get a smaller bill or a credit.

In the past we've gotten credits in October, but never close to this year: $400.52!! In addition to this, they've adjusted our monthly billing rate from $148 to $107. The net result of this is that we will get almost 4 months of "free" hydro (actually pre-paid), just as we're heading into the expensive holiday season.

Awesome!!!