https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 24 Apr 2026 03:48:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868635 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:36:20 +0000 babypugs 2868635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sweat in the summer and freeze in the winter. :(</p> <p>These are good tips! Hope you figure out a good system to save you $$$. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868630 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:06:31 +0000 lamariniere 2868630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We live in a place that’s about 90 degrees year round, but we rarely use the a/c (and I’m home all day). We have fans in every room and I use mine throughout the day while I’m working. It stays comfortable. We have a lot of floor to ceiling windows, so it can be like a greenhouse, especially in the living room, so we keep the curtains mostly closed when it’s really sunny. We don’t have a dryer, so everything is line dried. We don’t need to use any lights during the day because we get so much natural light. But the a/c is the huge money suck. If we have guests staying with us, we use it much more frequently and our bill can be $100 more per month than the regular rate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868583 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 12:18:07 +0000 MenagerieMama 2868583@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: in WA state water heaters have to be set to 120 deg for safety - so I wouldn't worry about Legionnaires at that temp. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868582 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 12:17:50 +0000 Mrsbells 2868582@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: we also have a plan that has free electricity after 9pm so we wait til then to run the dishwasher, washer and dryer. Those items use up the most power. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868577 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 12:08:09 +0000 808love 2868577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You can bargain with internet companies to lower your monthly and I like the discount mobile phone company named Ting. For movies/tv, we watch PBS, redbox and use hulu every few months as there are deals with Amex Offers or other discounts that make it close to free. I have a hard time shaving off water bill as it is mostly sewer charges. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868544 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 10:28:58 +0000 looch 2868544@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Interestingly, I find that when I line dry, I still need to use the iron on some items, so I am not sure what I am actually saving in terms of electric usage.</p> <p>I wanted to go solar, but no company will install on our roof because we don't use enough power to make it worth it for them, so we just continue to do what we do which is to use timers, LED bulbs and stay home mode on the furnace.</p> <p>As for other utilities, we consolidated our mobile phone plan so we have a savings there, but we still have a landline (for the alarm system) and wireless. We were able to find a package without cable.</p> <p>For us, the trade off is money vs. time. As an example, we can install rain barrels on the property to water the lawn, but then we'd have to spend time watering, which costs us time. We have full time jobs and active social lives which we are not willing or able to compromise on, so for now, in this phase of our life, we are okay with paying for water to water the lawns via our sprinkler system. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868539 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 10:22:42 +0000 gotkimchi 2868539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: I’d love to see how you find the time of use plan. We’ve been thinking of switching. Our regular rate is 13.1. Time of use would mean off peak is 8.96 and on peak is 19.68. We would get to pick our off peak time ie 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and weekends and holidays are off peak by default. So it sounds doable to me and I would hope we would come out ahead </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868527 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 09:29:32 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2868527@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: our main issue was summer Ac bills and time of use does not help when someone is always home with the kids. The only thing that helped was to go solar. We also need to upgrade the ac and make some repairs to the vents I think. </p> <p>This whole thread is kind of sad because I feel like we're already using the dryer as minimally as we can with three kids, we run the dishwasher totally full once a day and mostly air dry, etc.. and our utility bills are still pretty high. We pay $200+ for the solar bill per month and it's still cheaper than what our electric averaged out to be! (And our thermostat is not running low! Not by a long shot.) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868479 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:56:36 +0000 808love 2868479@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a solar water heater which shaves off at least 1/3 of the bill. Toaster oven. Line dry things like jeans, sheets and towels. We air dry the dishwasher dishes. My worst energy sin is I leave my computer on sleep mode a lot instead of turning it off. We don’t use air conditioning or have a heater and we have lots of natural lighting so lights stay off much of the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868477 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:13:19 +0000 DesertDreams88 2868477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: ok this is how I mentally did my quick math.<br /> Using the dryer and condensing our washer / dishwasher usage has saved 1/3-1/5 of our energy usage comparatively by month. See graph above, comparing post-Aug 2017 usage to pre-Aug 2017 usage.</p> <p>Our average bill in 2018 was $128 and our 2017 average bill was $136. So, I figure 1/3 to 1/5 of that is $34.</p> <p>Maybe it's because the dryer warms up the house, and AC is a big factor in our bill bc it's Phoenix. So, when we run the dryer, maybe it also affects the AC. Also our electricity kWh price is changes each season, with summer peak pricing.</p> <p>Another change that I just remembered is we shifted to using the toaster oven instead of the oven if at all possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868473 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:06:06 +0000 bhbee 2868473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hypatia: just be careful line drying if anyone has allergies! We can’t consider it for that reason. We also have the keep the house a couple degrees colder than I would like in summer because it makes it less humid which helps dust mite allergies. Ugh. </p> <p>We’re lucky here though that we have competition in the electricity market so you can get a good rate/plan and also make choices about how renewable you want it, etc. A little more work to figure out what to sign up for (the plans are not always straightforward) but worth it. There’s also now a service locally that for like $10/mo handles changing your plan as needed to minimize your cost. </p> <p>Another simple thing I figured out a year after we moved here is that our sewer rate (which makes up a big portion of our water bill and only changes once a year) is based on water usage Nov-Feb so I try to be mindful then (essentially it’s estimating your usage without sprinklers, but plenty of people here use them wastefully in winter anyway because our lines don’t freeze). I also signed up for notifications from the county about how much to run the sprinklers based on weather conditions - really helpful since it’s so hot in TX but most grass is low water. That service also taught me things like running multiple short cycles to save runoff and maximize your benefit. </p> <p>We got a new HVAC system that is more efficient - we may never see the $ breakeven but the old one was leaking coolant. The installation guy told me in addition to keeping up the filter changes it’s helpful to hose off the outside unit once a month or so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868471 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:59:53 +0000 Hypatia 2868471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: I’m not sure the math works out. The national average kWh costs eleven cents, and the average dryer is 3.3 kWh. Let’s say a load takes 45 minutes. That’s 36 cents per load. </p> <p>Four loads per week for a month would be $5.76. In order to spend $40 at the national average kWh rate, you’d have to do 28 loads per week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868470 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:54:08 +0000 DesertDreams88 2868470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Foodnerd81: per month.</p> <p>@hypatia: yeah we do 4-6 loads a week so it adds up I guess. Kid clothes, cloth diapers, my clothes, DH clothes, kitchen towels &amp; bibs, bedding. I try to combine 1 or two of those but usually it's a full load.</p> <p>It takes me about 15 extra minutes. 10 min to hang, 5 min to take down (I just hold the laundry hamper below as I unclip so it falls in). My ILs do the kid &amp; kitchen laundry since they babysit daily at our house, so that helps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868468 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:40:41 +0000 Hypatia 2868468@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I considered line drying, but I did the math, and with our energy efficient dryer on off peak time, it costs us $0.23 per load. I only do a max of two loads per week, so it would save us $1.84 per month. Line drying is a lot more work for me, so for now, it’s a luxury I’ll keep. I might stop when summer hits, though, because then you have to figure in that the dryer is essentially a big heater that’s making your AC work harder. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868467 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:37:40 +0000 Foodnerd81 2868467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: $30-40 per year or month? For $40 a year I’d gladly use the dryer. </p> <p>Following along because i feel like our utilities are so high. We got new windows and insulation which has helped some but it’s still a big old house to heat and cool. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868458 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:13:06 +0000 DesertDreams88 2868458@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We hang all of our clothes except towels, and it has saved us $30-$40 each month. Our dryer is our biggest energy impact, for sure. All of our appliances are energy efficient so that's not a factor.</p> <p>We also have shifted more towards very full washer and dishwasher loads. It uses the same amount of energy and water regardless, but cuts down on how many uses there are per week.</p> <p>Our bar graph showing energy usage per month for the past 3 years. We started to hang dry our laundry in August 2017, and we had a baby in Feb 2018 which increased our laundry and dishwashing.</p> <p>[attach=5393/19/pltbxl.390x231.Utilities.JPG] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868452 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:01:44 +0000 pachamama 2868452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't do it bc its freezing cold here in NY 7 months out of the year and I don't like "crispy"but clothes, but I heard dryers use a ton of energy. Try hanging up clothes to dry? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-save-money-on-utilities#post-2868451 Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:53:46 +0000 Hypatia 2868451@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just signed up for a Time of Use program with our electric company, so we are now trying to shift our electricity usage to off peak times. We can save up to 40% on our bill, so we are trying to be as mindful as we can about it!</p> <p>Do you have any tricks for saving energy or water that you’d like to share?</p> <p>Things we’re doing:</p> <p>LED Bulbs<br /> Smart thermostat that turns off the heat during peak hours<br /> Showers at night during off peak times<br /> Washing clothes and doing dishes during off peak times<br /> Washing clothes in cold water<br /> Vacuuming the fridge coils monthly<br /> Replacing hvac filters regularly<br /> Water saving shower heads<br /> Turning the temperature differential from 0.5 degrees to 1.5 degrees so the hvac doesn’t cycle so much<br /> Unplug the printer, extra speakers, etc.<br /> Open blinds and curtains during the day to let in light and heat</p> <p>I’m considering turning our water heater down from 140 to 120, but I can’t help worrying about Legionnaires. </p>