save money in your home

By Theresa Ficazzola

January is Financial Wellness Month, a time to take control of your money and your life.  Hopefully, you’ve already got a handle on your retirement planning, budgeting and an emergency fund.  So, let’s focus on your most important asset—your home—and some simple steps you can take to save money and enhance your financial wellbeing.

Take action today to save money in and around your home, then reinvest or save the extra money you accumulate for additional benefits.  If you implement all the below suggestions, you could save over $1,000 each year.

Energy

You have the power to lower your energy costs.  The average U.S. family uses 600kw hours of electricity every month and spends about $2,200 a year on energy costs. According to energystar.gov, the average single family home’s energy bill is composed of:

  • 29% heating
  • 17% cooling
  • 14% water heating
  • 13% appliance
  • 12% lighting
  • 4% electronics
  • 11% other

Energy Savings

  • Using power strips and turning them off each night can save you $10 a month.
  • Almost half of the energy used in a home is spent on heating. A programmable thermostat with a timer can take 2% off your annual heating/cooling costs, saving you $180 a year.  Lowering or raising your home temperature can also help; try 68 degrees in winter and 78 in summer.
  • Switch to Energy Star appliances, which can lower your energy costs by 25%, saving you $100 a year.  And if you qualify, you can get a government rebate of up to $5,000 on the cost of the new Energy Star appliances.
  • Switch to Energy Star CFL light bulbs to save $70-$120 a year.  They use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than regular bulbs—that’s 10,000 hours of light versus 1,500 for a standard bulb.
  • Waiting for hot water for showers and washing clothes and dishes not only wastes the water as it’s running, a significant amount of energy is used to heat the water.  For example, 80%-85% of the energy used to wash one load of laundry goes to heating the water.
  • Setting your water heater temperature to 120 degrees can save you both water and money.
  • There are many benefits of solar energy. By harnessing the power of the sun with a custom designed solar system from SI Solar, you can save yourself some cold, hard cash.
  • Exactly how much you can save on solar depends on a variety of factors, including your current electric rates, the size of the solar system that can fit on your roof, how much sun your roof gets, how much electricity you produce, and how much electricity you consume. However, a typical homeowner may be able to eliminate between 70%-100% of their current electric bill.
  • New York and New Jersey residents can receive additional savings from installing solar panels on their homes: NY residents can receive federal, NY State and NYC tax benefits and NJ residents can receive federal tax benefits and TRECs (solar renewable energy credits) for even more savings.
  • SI Solar offers solar plans with $0 out of pocket.  To get started with a free, no obligation assessment, call us today!

Water

The average U.S. family uses 80-100 gallons of water every day—that’s 1.2 trillion gallons annually and equates to $1,000 a year. Indoor water use is broken down by 41% for toilets and 33% for washing.  If you reduce your water consumption by 1,000 gallons each month, you can save about $140 a year.

Water Savings

  • Installing low flow faucets and fixtures could save you 25%-60% of your water usage.   A water sense system reduces water by 15%, which equates to about 7,600 gallons of water a year—that’s equal to about 480 showers.  An efficient flow shower head and shorter shower times can reduce water use by 50% and save 1,100 gallons of water a month, saving a family of 4 between $285-$380 a year.
  • A regular toilet uses 3.5 gallons of water with every flush, while a low flow or water sense toilet only uses 1.6 gallons, that’s a savings of 1,300 gallons every month or about 23,000 gallons a year.
  • Outdoor water use is roughly 30% of a household’s usage.  If you water an average lawn for 20 minutes a day for one week, that is equivalent to running a shower constantly for 4 days or taking 800 showers—that’s the same as the amount of water an average family would use for showers for 1 full year. Watering your lawn every other day or every day for 10 minutes, rather than 20 minutes, can reduce your outdoor water use by half.
  • Don’t let the water run while doing the dishes, brushing your teeth, shaving, or lathering up/shampooing your hair in the shower.  You can save upwards of 5,700 gallons a year.
  • Run your dishwater only when it’s full, saving you 320 gallons of water a year.
  • Fix leaks as soon as they start. A leaky faucet of 1 drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons of water a year, for a loss of almost $100. One of the hardest leaks to detect is your toilet, but it can waste up to 100 gallons of water every single day.

Insulation

If you have a poorly insulated house, you’re literally throwing money out the window…and doors.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the top 5 heat leaks in a home are:

  • 31% from floors, walls, ceilings
  • 21% from windows, doors
  • 19% from plumbing, electrical outlets, fan vents
  • 15% ducts
  • 14% fireplaces (about 60% of homeowners leave their damper open all the time, letting heat and air conditioning escape)

Insulation Savings

  • Insulate your water heater and pipes to save 4%-9% on your annual water heating costs.
  • Seal cracks that create drafts to lower your bill by 3%-18%.  Weather stripping, caulking, automatic door sweeps, and insulation can all help to block cold, wind and drafts.