Share your tips for conserving energy and gas....

[Mskanga]

I am first of all using my clothesline outside all the time now that the weather is nice ( my electric bill has almost doubled in the last year ) , I also shut off the hot water heater when not in use , my husband always said that the pilot light did not use much , I proved him wrong last year when I did a test and showed that the same amount of propane lasted 12 more days when I shut off the heater from 10pm at night to 3pm the following afternoon, everyone showers at night.
Those 12 days wasted with the pilot light at the price of propane today translates into $113 for me every month that is wasted because nobody uses it.
I also condensed trips to run my errands after work on my way home , I walk to the gas station close to home to get the paper on sundays ( for exercise more than anything ) and I have not purchased the season passes for our local waterpark this year , besides that the kids are burnt out from going to the same place for years I figured we would make more use of our pool.
We also share carpools with other people when possible.

So what are your tips?

 

[we3disneygo]

were putting in insulation in the attic!

 

[Mskanga]

were putting in insulation in the attic!

That is going to make a HUGE difference in the summer and winter , when we had the roof replaced they left the roof with just the plywood and shingles on for the weekend, the insulation and sheetrock would be done on monday , boyyyyyyyyyyyy did I feel the heat in the summer!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe the difference between having insulation and not having it.
Good for you.

 

[ILUVMYBRIT]

Well my biggie is doing the speed limit and avoiding any hard accelerations with my car. I use my cruise control most of the time ( I do mostly highway driving in my commute). You wouldnt believe how much more mileage I get on a tank of gas that way. I always tend to chuckle at the people that go flying past me and know that they are just wasting gas to get to where ever they are going 5 minutes sooner than anyone else.
I wasnt sure if it would make a difference or not when I first started doing it but I got an extra 50 miles per fill up(one commute home from work). I also plan my driving so I dont have to take any extra trips in the car. For example if I am going to the bank that is located next to the grocery store....I will do the shopping on the same trip.

 

[SeeDisney]

Just a couple of days ago on Easter, when I read the directions for my ham.

It said 15 to 20 minutes in the oven per pound. OR microwave 1 or 2 minutes per lbs.

Guess what, I just went ahead and microwave it and it turned out great.

During the winter, I got used to have the heat on 62 degrees during the day.

 

[pat fan]

Consolidating trips into town...I try and only make one trip to the "city" for groceries etc....

I plan on starting direct deposit for our paychecks which will save a trip to town to visit the bank. We can transfer from one account to another over the phone and that will save having to run to the bank when something arrises unexpectedly.

We bought energy saving lightbulbs (the curly kind....I forget what they are called ) for all the fictures in our house. I don't know exactly how much it is saving, but our electric bill hasn't gone up nearly as much as other people's.

I buy online. I look for deals on Amazon,Disney Direct etc....for promotions on free shipping and buy gifts etc...that way. Saves money by not having to drive to the mall as we don't have stores in our town to shop at. If you have to buy a gift for someone, you HAVE to go the mall.

I will be looking at this thread often for more tips as we started all this last year when prices soared, and now I need even more ways to save. When you are already cutting to the bone, where else do you start cutting?

 

[AllyandJack]

Wash clothes in cold water. It's amazing. Works wonders. Every now and then DH and I will so some stuff in a load of warm water, but everything goes in on cold. I started last year, amassed a HUGE credit with my heat company. My payment plan for this year was almost $100./month LESS. This year, I'll finish the plan with about a $1000. credit. So, next year, my monthly payment on the plan should be roughly the same.

I don't like heat, so I keep it on 65 and I tell DH to put a sweater on if he's cold. The bedroom is always too hot for me - even with it on 65, but the kitchen is always chilly for DH. I'm not flipping the heat up to keep him warm in the kitchen, he can put a sweater on.

 

[Mskanga]

We bought energy saving lightbulbs (the curly kind....I forget what they are called ) for all the fictures in our house. I don't know exactly how much it is saving, but our electric bill hasn't gone up nearly as much as other people's.

I gotta try that , my kids always leave all the freaking lights on even when they are not in the room.

I don't like heat, so I keep it on 65 and I tell DH to put a sweater on if he's cold.

Would you tell my husband too please? He doesn't listen to me!

 

[ducklite]

If you are thinking of building a home or have to entirely reroof your existing home, and live in a warmer climate look into a radient barrier. It cost us about $3000 to put this on to our 3000 s/f home, and we figure it will pay for itself in a little over three years time in a/c savings. I keep the house at between 78 and 80 in the summer, and my a/c runs about 70% less than my neighbors. We also have ceiling fans in almost every room, and by turning them on we can keep the thermostat at 80 and still feel cool.

I keep teh house at 72 in the winter, but living in FL I really don't have to run teh heat much--I open the blinds on the morning sun side of the house in the morning and close them as it gets dark to retain the heat. Same thing with the evening side in the afternoon.

I take the laundry out of my dryer while it's still damp (except towels) and hang things up to finish drying. We also reuse our towels a couple times to cut down on laundry.

I have the heat dry off on my dishwasher, if I run it when I go to bed (which is better as far as not impacting peak energy use times) the dishes are dry in the morning.

We turn the minifridge on our lanai off in the winter months when we know we won't be entertaining out there.

We have dimmers on a lot of the lights so we can only use the amount of light we actually need in the room.

We have those flourescent bulbs in a lot of the lamps in our home.

We've closed off the vent into the spare bedroom and only open it when someone is coming for a visit--we keep the door closed unless we've got guests. I keep the blinds in that room closed all the time as well--it gets direct morning sun and can get VERY hot all year round.

We use solar powered landscaping lighting. FREE!

I try to combine trips.

I'm sure there are other things, but that's a good start.

Anne

 

[Mkaz]

Most of our list are home improvements that make our home more energy efficient. Here's our list:

1.) Consolidate trips to town. Do everything in one day.

2.) Lights stay OFF during daylight hours. No lights on in rooms we aren't in at the time.

3.) NO a/c. Only ceiling fans.

4.) Last year we bought an attic fan that only turns on when it gets to a certain temperature in the attic.

5.)We installed radiant floor heat when we first bought our home. Big investment, but pays for itself. Last years bill for heating and hot water was $1,100.00 for the entire year.

6.)We are in the process of replacing the siding on our house. It's a modular so it only has cheapo cardboard insulation. DH is replacing it with foam insulation. He is also installing plywood on top of that (along w/ the tyvek of course).

7.) We keep the temperature set at 68 degrees at all times. Put a sweater on or grab a blanket if we are cold.

8.) As soon as DH finishes the siding, he will be putting my clothes line back up. Can't wait! It really does save money.

9.)We replaced all of the windows in our home. For FREE! They were single pane windows and not very efficient. Somebody that dh knows gave him nearly new windows. They got them from a lady that wanted different windows installed (it was a development she lived in) because they weren't Anderson windows. He told DH that he was going to have to throw them out if he didn't take them.

10.) Not really an energy saver, but a definite money saver. DH is a contractor so he did all of the work on our home.