Your Daily Savings Tips

This post is Part 17 of our 21 part series designed to help you find ways to spend less and save more.  With this post we’re up to 53 tips you can already bank on, and we’re still going strong.  Here are today’s tips you can put to work immediately:

Use window coverings to protect against heat loss.

51)  Use insulated window coverings. One way to save big money year around is to stop the massive energy loss through the windows of your home. According to the Energy Star program, windows account for as much as half of the heating and cooling load for a typical home. This means that up to half of the money you pay for heating and cooling is wasted due to your windows! There are simple, low cost ways to drastically cut the energy loss from windows. Using insulated window coverings is one of the best answers.

Although south-facing windows collect solar heat in winter, the sun is only present for part of the day, and only on clear days. The rest of the time your windows lose energy by leaking air, conducting heat, and radiating it. In the summertime, your windows raise air conditioning costs. They let in sunlight, which heats up your home. Also hot air leaks in through them, and they conduct and radiate heat from outside. While today’s new windows leak less air and are better insulated, installing them throughout a home can run into the thousands.

Fortunately, you don’t need to buy new windows. You can accomplish good savings by sealing your windows against drafts and using insulating window coverings. Think of it as putting attractive “blankets” on your windows. The choices include thick drapes with cornices above to block air leakage, or various types of insulating shades that you can buy or make yourself. Many examples can be found here.

If money is very tight, you can also cut down on drafts by making a clear indoor storm window with plastic film on a thin wood frame. Or to block sunlight in the summertime, you can buy reflective shades. A cheaper solution is to use thin, flexible plastic foam that is covered with foil on both sides. It comes in rolls, and is available in hardware stores. Cut a piece to fit in a window that faces the summer sun. Tape it in place, or rest it on the window sill behind your blinds or curtains.  In some cases, it does not even need to cover the entire window, such as if the window is partly shaded by an overhang.

52)  Dry most of your laundry naturally. This “old tech” solution is surprisingly effective at cutting your energy costs. An electric clothes dryer uses up to 12% of the electricity in a typical home. A gas clothes dryer uses a lot of energy as well. If you would like to know your energy cost per load of clothes, you can estimate it by clicking here. While it is faster and more convenient to use a clothes dryer, and definitely results in less ironing, remember that much of your laundry does not need to be pressed anyway—including towels, sheets, underwear, and socks.

For a number of great alternatives to drying your laundry without a clothes dryer, see this article and the accompanying photos.  In the wintertime, for laundry washed in hot water, air dry it inside of your home. This adds heat and needed moisture to the indoor air. However, when drying a load washed in cold water, dry it outdoors to avoid sucking heat from your indoor air. Laundry will dry outdoors even when there is snow and ice, although it will take longer. A breeze or wind will greatly speed up outdoor drying time of laundry.

Cut 1 minute from your shower and save 2 or more gallons of heated water.

53)  Add an instant shutoff valve to your shower head. Running a hot water heater costs money so everything you can do to run it less helps the budget.  One method to save both water and energy is to shut off the water in your shower while you are soaping up or applying shampoo or conditioner to your hair. If you shut off the water for as little as one minute, you could save two gallons or more of heated water. (Use a bucket to find out for yourself how much comes out of the shower head in one minute.) Over the course of a year, this will mean saving up to 730 gallons of heated water for every person in your household. You can buy shower heads that include instant shut off valves, but you don’t need to. Simply purchase an easy to use shut off valve and install it right above your shower head. To see what it looks like click here.

Please tell your friends about us and come back tomorrow for 3 more tips!

By Bill West

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