Every year there’s a winter tug-of-war between wanting to blast the heat and wanting to avoid high utility bills. The same thing happens in the summer when cooling costs are even more astronomical. Unless you want to foot these steep bills every year, it’s time to discuss some solutions.
You need not be a slave to your utility bill. There are ways to cut it down without ruining the way you live. With some structure from your online calendar, these 5 tips will be saving you plenty in no time:
1. Set Savings Goals
Online calendars are excellent tools for goal setting. They allow you to illustrate the plans you hope to take in pursuit of your goals as well as keep you accountable for the decisions you make. You can use your own Calendar to set and pursue goals with utility savings in mind.
For example, a small yet attainable goal is to turn off the lights in any room you’re not using. In your Calendar, you can set reminders to check the house and see if you’re achieving your goal. After a while, you won’t need the reminders because you’ll develop an energy-efficient habit in your home.
2. Adjust the Temperature
Thermostats today are wonderful because they can moderate temperatures automatically. You can keep your thermostat set to 70 all year long without a care in the world. However, if you want to lower that heating and cooling bill, you’ll want to make some adjustments.
Let’s say you plan to take a trip home for Christmas break. Your home doesn’t need to be heated to 70+ degrees while you’re gone, as there’s nobody in the house to keep warm. Set a reminder in your online calendar to adjust the temperature before you leave as part of your checklist. This will save you a couple of bucks over the course of your trip, and your home will warm up quickly upon your return.
You can also lower the temperature of your water heater for some extra savings. A few degrees lower can save you more than a few cents. Use your online calendar to remind you of the change you made if you only want it to be temporary, such as lowering the heat during the summer and raising it back up during the winter.
3. Set a Daily Routine
A simple daily routine can promote habits that lead to lower utility bills. For example, taking shorter showers can do a lot to lower your utility bills, especially if you love steaming up your bathroom to warm yourself up in the winter. This is something small you can tackle that will end up making a considerable difference in your monthly bill.
To cut down your shower time, set a morning schedule that requires you to get in and out more quickly. Not only will your utility bill benefit from the new routine, but you’ll also be able to fit more productive activities into your day. You can also set routines for the lights and appliances in your home to reduce the amount of electricity you use.
One impactful routine you can work on is your laundry. Running several cycles a week will rack up quite the electricity bill if you’re not careful. Instead, establish a laundry routine that minimizes the number of times you have to do laundry, therefore using your washer and dryer sparingly.
Running laundry, or the dishwasher for that matter, at night might qualify you for lower energy rates since the demand is less during those hours.
4. Perform Routine Maintenance
A few fixes here and there will keep your home looking nice and make it more energy-efficient. You should be performing routine maintenance on your home to make sure it never falls in disarray and to stay ahead of your utility bill before it gets too high. In our Calendar, markdown a date a least once a quarter to scope things out.
Check the seals on the door and windows to see if they’re letting in air that’s causing your heating and cooling system to work harder than it should. See if any leaky faucets are running up your water bill overnight. You can even audit your lightbulbs and appliances to see if it’s time to switch to something more energy efficient.
For bigger fixes, schedule a professional technician to fix things up for you. Most people aren’t capable of repairing an HVAC system after all, but it’s an essential component of your building and works much better when finetuned correctly.
5. Schedule an Energy Audit
If your efforts don’t seem to be making much of a dent in your utility bills, it might be time to call in some professional assistance. Many energy and utility companies will run an energy audit of your home or business, sometimes even for free. They’ll be able to tell you exactly what’s running up your bill and what you can do to lower it.
You might have no idea that lowering the temperature of your fridge a few degrees was costing you dozens of dollars a month. These are the types of things you can learn from an energy audit. Without one, you would be grasping at straws in an attempt to make a difference.
Ready for savings? Start making adjustments to your energy usage with the help of your online calendar today. You can use those savings to invest in more energy-efficient equipment and appliances to compound the savings you get from being more energy-efficient.
Abby Miller
Student at UC Berkeley, currently working on a degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Sciences and Business Administration. Experienced in CSX, productivity management, and chatbot implementation.