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On that note, I keep my hot water heater turned off; it takes about 20 minutes to heat.
This may not save you much energy. In fact, you may be wasting more than you save. How large is your water heater: 30, 40, 50 gallons? Every time you do want hot water for smaller tasks (dishes, some hand cleaning job) and the heater has to fire up to create it, its trying to reheat a tank FULL of COLD water that may not even be needed. It doesn't have the ability to only heat part of the tank, it heats it all. Then you turn the heater off again, that unused water goes cold, just to end up being heated again the next time. Instead, check the temp setting on the water heater and turn it down a couple of degrees unless you have a need for a specific temperature for a dishwasher or whatever. Insulate the water heater itself and make sure its operating correctly.
A few other little tricks: I'm use a little dorm fridge instead of the large, old, energy-sucking model that came with the house
If you really keep such a small amount of perishable food on hand, maybe. Just understand that there's a point where a fridge can be so small it costs more in energy to keep the contents cold because the mass is too small. Too small a mass can't maintain the lower internal temperature as well as a larger mass can so the fridge compressor/fan runs longer and more often. This article is older, but explains some of the reasons why a "dorm" or mini-fridge isn't necessarily cheaper to run:
Last winter, I ran a space heater in the one room I (mostly) live in, but I'm not sure that really saved much money -- and it was still cold. This year, I'm making greater use of a large electric heating pad under a throw whenever I'm sitting around watching TV, reading, doing paperwork, etc. Is that an improvement energy-saving wise? Not sure.
Again, there's a point where you may be penny wise and pound foolish. If most of your house is left cold, the room you do try to heat will constantly lose heat to the rest of the structure AND all its cold contents. Thermal gradients like to equalize themselves. Your supposedly efficient space heater may not be. Its fighting a loosing battle against too large a cold mass, so it ends up running a lot more. This plus the energy expense of heating pads might not be saving you as much as you think. The only way to figure out what a reasonable balance point is for your particular house is experimenting different combinations and comparing the resulting energy bills. You may find that keeping unused rooms cool (heated to some degree) but not cold reduces heat transfer from your one warm room, the space heater runs less.
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-22-2022 at 03:26 PM..
My water tank is very small, and I combine all hot-water tasks (laundry, showering, washing dishes) on the same day, which is not EVERY day...
I keep very few refrigerated foods on hand, being a single person -- eggs, milk, cheese, mayo, yogurt, and any leftovers from the day before. They would be absolutely lost in my ginormous old refrigerator, so I think I'm good there, too.
I already explained that I no longer use a space heater; I now use a heating pad. If that's making my electricity bill increase, I haven't noticed it yet.
But thanks for the input!
Last edited by otterhere; 02-22-2022 at 03:24 PM..
It's a few years old at this point, but I compare our utilities spending to this link. I figure if I'm doing better than average, then not doing too badly.
Live in the smallest house you can get away with. Large houses = large electric & heating bills Don't own a dishwasher, or if you do own one, don't use it. Dry most of your clothing on the 'low heat' setting
Turn the lights off when you don't need them on.
Turn down the heat
I'm not certain that hand washing dishes saves any water or energy. Certainly waiting until the dishwasher is reasonably full before running it makes sense.
Depends how you do it. Wash them in a soapy sink or sink pan, then just rinse. Don't run water continally. Shut it off while you're brushing your teeth, too (not that water is a huge expense for most people).
I'm not certain that hand washing dishes saves any water or energy. Certainly waiting until the dishwasher is reasonably full before running it makes sense.
Depends how you plan it. Someone who only cooks for one doesn't generate a lot of dirty dishes/pots and pans every day. Unless they're a gourmet who prepares complex meals. If I waited until the dishwasher was anywhere near "full" to justify running it I wouldn't have any dishes or silverware left to eat from! My last two houses have had dishwashers. I only cycled them to keep the seals from drying out.
I live alone so cook for one. I can wash my minimal dishes and pots in less water than a dishwasher uses to go through its cycle, but that's partially because I have history living in field camps/cabins with no water but what you haul from the local river on your back and treat for months at a time. You definitely learn how to minimize water use. I don't wash dishes or anything else under a running tap.
My current highly efficient house's water is sourced from an underground cistern that gets filled about once a month. If the truck doesn't refill more than 500 gallons, they only charge for the delivery, not the water itself. In the years I've lived here don't think I've ever paid for water. I pay attention to how much water various chores require. That in turn influences how much energy gets burned to heat it. This house has on-demand hot water too, no tank. How that cycles definitely influences how long you stand in the shower. Baths aren't very practical because you get periodic cold water during different stages of the heating cycle. And that source water is frigid most of the year. Could I get the cistern refilled more often? Sure, especially if I have some big water dependent maintenance to do or a house full of guests, but from day to day I rather enjoy finding ways to be more efficient. There's really no need if I pay attention to the usage.
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-24-2022 at 01:21 PM..
^^^ I cook a whole bunch of stuff once in a while when I feel like it or can and freeze a lot of it. Other than that, it would take weeks to fill a dishwasher. Possibly months because I have only one 10" frying pan and one 12" skillet.
End of July thru about Sept 1st we go to the river to snorkel staying just 15-20 min to take a dip
Saves $ on a few fronts:
-Rinse one pair of padded shorts+ 1 top (cycling clothes) hang to dry when I get back. Saves on laundry
-The clothes I am wearing do not need washing since I swam in them for 15 min. Hang to dry
-We both get very depressed so it can be hard for us to just hop on the E-BIKES to go swim. Even though it's only 5 min. away. Snorkeling with the fish, in a truly different world, usually helps our depression to some degree. The water never really gets comfortable, it's still cold to some degree but after swimming you don't notice it. Snow run off for most of the year causes this. This may be why it only takes about 15 min to get some level of relief from depression. Seeing the fish, frogs, and we saw one water snake last year.
We bought a house with solar on it so our solar payment is $77. Our electric/gas bill is $90 in winter (natural gas portion of bill) and A/C is around $30 during summer months. Xcel here is raising rates big time
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