electric bill

Tuesday’s Tip: Hold It In!

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With the weather in Chicago turning (much!) colder, my husband and I had our yearly conversation about how to keep electric and heating costs down this winter. Not that our bills are outrageous. In fact, ours seem to be lower than a lot of people we talk to, but it takes a little effort to keep them under control. Still, we want our family to be comfortable, so when our daughter came to us complaining that she had to pile six blankets on her bed to keep warm at night, we were concerned. Hubby and I looked at each other. The window? And not just any window. A set of three large windows, actually, that take up virtually one entire wall of the bedroom. Without a word, we both trudged up the stairs to assess the situation. Our hands hovered over every joint, edge, and seam of the windows, searching for the tell-tale draft we were sure was turning our little girl into an icicle. We couldn’t find it, but we did notice how very cold it was. The giant wall of glass provided no insulation from the cold that secretly seeped into the room.

What to do . . .

Well, way back in the day, when I was in college (and, no, I’m telling how far back) my roommate and I shared the top floor of a century-old house with windows facing every direction to the outside world. It was great when it was sunny, filling the apartment with warm sunshine. But during the winter, the wind’s icy fingers crept into our little home, making the radiators moan with the effort of keeping us warm. We asked our landlady what to do and all she offered in the way of advice was to stuff towels along the seams and hang old blankets from the curtain rods. Huh . . . yeah, ok. Sure. That’ll work. We tried it anyway, but didn’t like the fact that the blankets blocked out the natural light, making us feel like we were living in a dungeon. And it didn’t do a very good job of stopping the drafts from finding other gaps in the window sills. So, we asked our parents. They suggested putting plastic over the windows. We did, and it worked. It wasn’t perfect, but we were much warmer and, subsequently, happier knowing we weren’t going to have to take a blow dryer to our toes in the morning anymore.

So, my husband stopped by the hardware store on his way home from work the next day and picked up a package of insulating wrap. It was only about $8 or $10 and was made for large windows and patio doors. After dinner, we set out to keep our daughter from freezing while she slept. Start to finish, it took us about 45 minutes. We took down the valances and curtains, wiped the surfaces, then rolled the double-sided tape along all the edges. Next, we carefully placed the plastic around the window, trying not to make any wrinkles. Then my husband waved my hair dryer over the entire surface until the plastic was taut. Then we replaced all the curtains. Done. The next morning, our daughter gleefully informed us that she was so warm that night that she had to take off her socks and shed a blanket or two. Naturally, we were relieved and glad we wouldn’t be treating her for frostbite.

Surprisingly, the process of insulating windows with plastic isn’t very difficult. Plus, it’s an inexpensive way to block drafts and chilliness while holding the heat in, which will save you money on heating costs. You can even see through it. If you have drafty windows, but can’t afford to replace them just yet, consider installing these plastic insulating wraps to your windows. You can find them at hardware, grocery, and discount stores. (Chances are they’re on sale right now.) They also come in several different sizes with everything you need to protect your windows, including instructions. You supply the hair dryer. It’s an easy, inexpensive alternative to freezing to death or going broke.

Tuesday’s Tip: The Electric (Bill) Slide

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Ok, admittedly, I’m using Tuesday’s Tip this week to vent a pet peeve, but hey – it’s my website and I’ll crab if I want to . . .

Here’s a thought: TURN OFF LIGHTS in rooms or areas of the house that you’re not using. I know, duh, but how many times have I walked around my house turning off lights because no one seems to know how?!?! Sigh. And, really, it’s the poor laundry room light that gets hit the hardest. It’s the first one to go on when we walk into the house from the garage and it always seems to be the last one that’s remembered – usually by me. And of course it’s also the hardest one to replace. What a pain in the neck! But because it’s so badly neglected, it needs to be changed most often. The upstairs lights are next in line to be frequently forgotten. My kids left for school one morning and I walked around the upper level and literally turned off all 3 bedroom lights, the hall light, the foyer light, and the one in the bathroom. The basement light also has its fair share of neglect. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve called downstairs to see if anyone actually was there only to be met with silence. So, what is there to think about when it comes to simply flipping a switch, hmm? It’s really not that difficult. You turn it on when you walk in the room, therefore you turn it off when you leave the room. I think that’s pretty simple. Apparently, however, I’m the only one in my house that thinks so . . .

Here’s another tip (actually given to me by a rep from the electric company): UNPLUG items you don’t use on a regular basis. Obviously, we’re not going to unplug things like the fridge, computers, or TVs, but other appliances use energy even when they’re not turned on. It got me thinking, so I toured the house looking for small electrics that were plugged in, but not in use, or that we didn’t use on a very regular basis. As it turns out, we had about 15 or so items that were sucking juice from the outlets, but weren’t using it. Things like the document shredder, a space heater that we hadn’t used in 6 months, the air hockey table, can opener, wine cork remover, decorative lights in the china hutch that hadn’t been turned on in years, a couple of lamps that never get used, a portable stereo, decorative lamps in the kids’ rooms that haven’t been used since we installed ceiling units 7 months ago, a pencil sharpener, and other various chargers for phones or gadgets were all plugged in, but sitting idle. So do you know what I did? I unplugged them all. I can’t imagine that we’ll be saving a whole lot just by killing the feed on these things, but you never know. And any savings is better than none.

While these may not be tips that save you thousands per year, I hope they give you something to think about – especially in light of the recent news of rate hikes by the electric company. Ick. So you may want to do a sweep of your house, too, unplug what you don’t constantly need, and make a conscious effort to turn things off when not in use. It’s worth it to do watt-ever we can to save a little current-cy.

Tuesday’s Tip: All Heated Up

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Since the cold(er) weather is quickly approaching, if not already beginning to settle in, I thought maybe I’d talk about heat. Specifically, heating our humble abodes.

Gas and electric companies always seem to be crying hard times and raising our rates even though just about everyone I know is crabbing about their bills! So, in an effort to save some moola this winter, try lowering the temperature in the house a couple of degrees. We have a digital thermostat that does a very good job of regulating the temperature in our house. And with good insulation, it’s even better. We have the temperature set at 68 degrees right now, but even during the winter we don’t usually set it above 70.

Whenever we get together with friends or family and we’re just sitting around chatting (especially with the “older” crowd), the conversation never fails to include the rising cost of things. I find it slightly humorous that people are continually surprised by the fact that our heating and electric bills are lower than everyone else’s. Well, that’s because we don’t turn our house into a sauna in the wintertime. Yes, we wear sweaters and socks or slippers in the house, but we’re comfortable that way. It’s not as if we’re huddled in front of a tiny space heater under 15 layers of clothing and blankets just trying to save a few bucks. Our bills have been $75, $100, or more, lower than some of the people we know. Talk about being surprised!

True story: A couple of friends were complaining about how high their bills were during the winter. Then we went to their house for a small gathering – and nearly suffocated! We were dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, but we were greeted at the door by our friends wearing shorts and T-shirts! No joke! The house was so warm that they actually dressed as if they were headed to the beach. I’m not saying you should have the temperature so low that you can see your breath in the house, but holy cow! Really???

So . . . Don’t think it matters? Guess again. The warmer you have the house, the more your furnace kicks on to maintain that temperature. The more it works to keep your house warm, the more energy (gas and electricity) you use. The more energy you use, the higher your bills will be throughout the winter.

So before you crank up the heat, think about setting the temperature slightly lower and dressing for the season. Try a few different settings, and maybe even dropping the temp a little lower at night. I’m not talking 10 degrees, I’m talking 2 or 3 depending on where you normally have it set. Hey, I’m all for comfort, but I’d like to be able to afford food, too. And I happen to like sweaters . . .