Good morning Loves. BF and I have been in our new apartment for a month now and I’m still learning about how to save money on hydro without taking cold showers and living in the dark. This is the first time in 34 years we’ve had to pay hydro; not only are we learning how to fit this variable payment into our monthly budget but we’re also learning to be more conscious about how much energy we consume.
We already received our first hydro bill. It was $65 from October 1 to 16. We moved in Oct 1 and I guess the cut off is mid month so that’s why we already received a bill. This means our hydro bill, which includes electricity and hot water, should be around $130 each month. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad but it seems like a lot since we haven’t even turned on our heat yet for the winter or our air conditioning for the summer. Does that sound reasonable for an 1100 sq. ft. apartment?
4 ways we are trying to cut down our water bill:
Turn off the water. I know this seems like common sense but it’s not as easy as it sounds. I never noticed how much water I used to waste because I never had to pay attention to it. I would turn on the shower and let the water run for a few minutes until it was hot and I am notorious for leaving the water running while I brush my teeth. Let me tell you that all this has stopped, but old habits are hard to break. I’m also trying not leave the water running while I’m cleaning because not only is it a waste of useful resources, it’s also letting money run down the drain – literally.
Make sure your appliances are full. For six years we had to wash dishes by hand so having a brand new dishwasher is amazing, however it’s also a very expensive luxury. We would love to run the dishwasher whenever we needed to use a dirty dish, but that’s just not smart. BF and I tend to always eat the same things which means we always use the same dishes and cookware, but we don’t want to run our dishwasher until it’s absolutely full. This means we still end up washing some dishes by hand but it’s better than wasting water and our money.
Wash in cold water. This is probably the best money saver tip I can give. Cold water is free so if you run the dishwasher and laundry machine on cold water it only costs electricity not electricity AND hot water. That’s a great money saving tip. Of course it doesn’t mean we should all start doing a load of laundry every time we need one pair of socks cleaned because that would be a waste. Just be cautious with your water temperatures because it could save you a lot of money. It also saves water because if you’re washing dishes by hand no one wants to linger their body parts in cold water. I for one always wash faster when the water is cold.
How do you save money on your water bill?
Photo from Flickr
Thankfully our water is included in our rent, but I’m still conscious of our water consumption. (Plus we do have to pay the hydro to heat up the water, so it does help cut costs.) We try to wash as much as can with cold water and have a pretty big washing machine, which at least gives me the impression that we use less water to wash the same amount of clothes (although I have no idea if that’s true or not).
The cold water tip is a great idea. I always use a cold wash cycle for clothes but I think our dishwasher is using hot water to wash AND heat to dry – that’s a lot of money. I have no idea how to change it.