Going off to college puts students in a lot of unfamiliar situations. One circumstance students are often blindsided by is paying bills for their apartment. Utility bills are usually not cheap, especially when you aren’t accustomed to being energy efficient back home. Whether you are paying the bills or your parents are helping you out, you might want to think about ways to be more energy efficient and ultimately save money.
There are plenty of obvious ways to save energy and cut down your utility bill. Things like turning off lights after you leave the room and turning the thermostat off when you are away from the house throughout the day. But there are quite a few less obvious strategies that will help you not be wasteful and will lower your bills immediately.
Heating and Cooling
On average in the United States, heating and air conditioning accounts for about 46% of energy used within a household. The summer months down in Auburn can be brutally hot, which makes it hard to preserve energy and save money while using your air conditioner. Nonetheless, there are several other ways that you may not have thought about that will save you money with heating and air.
One of the easiest and most important steps is to replace your air filter in your HVAC system. Depending on the quality of the air filter, you may need to replace it every 1-6 months. Changing out the air filter will make it easier for your HVAC air conditioner to run more smoothly and more efficiently.
Make sure your house is insulated well! If your heating and cooling system is working really hard, but all of the air is easily leaving the house then you are wasting a lot of energy and money. Take necessary steps to insulate your house like adding insulated curtains or door/window stoppers. You can add a cheap liner to your existing curtains, such as fleece or even a PVC shower curtain. Keep the curtains open during daylight hours to let the sunlight in and add natural heat to your home, but when the sun sets, draw the curtains to contain the warmth.
Lastly, once your house is insulated and holding in air, make sure that your furniture isn’t blocking any of the air vents. This can have a significant impact on your bill and is an easy fix. A few other tips include opening your windows, turning your AC off on a cool day and utilize ceiling fans or box fans. These are obvious solutions to cutting your bill in your apartment, but may be difficult if it is too warm outside.
Water
Taking steps to reduce water usage can have a positive impact on your apartments utility bill. The more noticeable tactics include taking showers not baths, taking quicker showers, turning water off while brushing your teeth, etc. Although these are all good ideas and should be executed, they aren’t going to make a visible dent in your water bill.
Millions of gallons of water are wasted each year in the shower. Purchasing a light stream shower head for your apartment is one trick that could make an impact on your water bill.
Another tactic to reduce water usage is to wash large loads of laundry with cold water instead of small loads with hot. If you do three small loads instead of one large load, you are using three times the amount of water. The same can be said with using the dishwasher. Make sure that your dishwasher is full when running it so you get the most out of your water usage.
Power
Powering appliances, electronics and lights make up about 26% of your electric bill. Being cost efficient when using these appliances can save you money. Here are some tips and tricks to lower your bill.
Reduce phantom loads by purchasing smart power strips.
When your appliances are not being used throughout the day, they are constantly using energy and electricity. Smart power strips will allow your devices to remain plugged in, but will not use electricity which will save you money in the long run.
Purchase energy efficient light bulbs, smart switches or motion sensored bulbs
Light bulbs use a lot of energy, so we recommend using LED lights in your house. It is also a good idea to make your bulbs controllable through your phone that way if you accidentally leave your lights on, you are easily able to turn them off.
Turn off devices such as televisions and computers when you are not using them
This should be a given, but a lot of people tend to constantly leave their devices on. Turn them off to save on your apartment's power bill.
Keep your refrigerator and freezer full.
The more full your fridge is the easier it is to keep its components cool. You should also cool down food before putting it in the fridge to save your fridge the extra work.
Whether you are living in an apartment, a townhome or just bought your first house, we hope that these tactics help you save energy and reduce the cost of your utility bill each month. We at Liberty Properties hope you find this informative as we not only want to help our tenants but other individuals too. If you are looking for a place to live or have any questions contact us or call us at 334-821-1600.