8 Ways to Save on Your Utility Bills

save on utility bills water heating winterNow that summer is just about in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to the cooler temperatures of fall and winter. While at first the change will feel like a welcome relief from the months of heat and humidity you’ve been suffering through, you’ll eventually find yourself seeking effective ways to warm up. In the past this might have meant spending a bunch of money to heat your home and water—but that doesn’t have to be the case going forward. Check out these eight terrific tips for trimming your utility bill in the colder months:

Saving on water bills

  • Lower the temperature setting of your water heater to a maximum of 120 degrees (or less, if you can stand it). This will warm the water sufficiently for showers and other uses while saving 10% or more on heating costs.
  • Take shorter showers. The math here is simple: the less time you spend in the shower, the less water you use and the less you pay, so get in, wash up, and get out.
  • Install a Warmrails heated towel rack in the bathroom. A heated towel rack thoroughly dries towels to keep them mold and mildew free, thereby eliminating the need for frequent, or daily laundering.
  • Run the clothes washer and dishwasher only when you have full loads, and use the cold or warm water settings (as opposed to hot) whenever possible.

Saving on heating bills

  • Use electric blankets or heated mattress pads to warm the bed at night. This will allow you to turn the thermostat way down or completely off and save money on overnight heating costs.
  • Switch your ceiling fans to the winter setting to make the blades rotate clockwise or reverse of their summer direction. The clockwise spin pushes warm air all the way up against the ceiling where it will then be forced to recirculate back down into the room.
  • Place heated floor mats under the area rugs in your home to provide targeted warmth in occupied rooms. Under area rug heated floor mats are a far more energy efficient warming method for the living room, media room, and home office than heating the entire house for the sake of one or two people.
  • Check the caulking and weather-stripping around doors and windows, and make sure the attic insulation is up to snuff. A poorly insulated home is extremely costly to heat because cold air is constantly coming in while warm air is always leaking out.

Check out the CozyWinters website to order the heated towel warming racks, electric blankets, heated mattress pads, and under area rug warming mats mentioned above and use the other money-saving ideas from this post to start prepping your home for the long winter to come.