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Hello, new here with a few ideas.
Hello, I have been looking for a site to share my thoughts and learn a few new tricks to help get my family's bottom dollar closer to where I would like it, so thank you in advance and I hope I can help someone along the way.
One thing that really helped my wife and I in our particular situation this last year we bought a prius to drive to work, as we have a 60 mile commute, the car has actually made its own car payment with difference in fuel costs per month. I realize this idea may not work for everyone but it sure helped us.
Second, four years ago I built a 4'X8' solar can heater and hung it on the south wall of our home, again this idea may not be appealing to everyone but we live in the country so I do not have neighbors to worry about and I like free heat every sunny day in the winter. For those who are interested there are many videos on the net to show how to build one of these if interested, feel free to ask me questions if you have any. It cost me around #300 in materials and has been running for 4 winters if you include this one so far. It blows ~120 degree heat in from around 10 am to 4-5 pm every day the sun shines no matter the temperature outside, and my furnace does not run at all during that time. Again, just an idea but propane is expensive in my neck of the woods.
I also converted all of my lights in the house to cfl/led including the kitchen light that was an 80 watt fluorescent and is now an integrated led (no bulbs just the diodes) which uses 17 watts. This light is the most used in the house and my electric bill has dropped by 40$ per month.
Smaller ideas were venting our ELECTRIC dryer into the basement laundry room (via switch box with a screen you can get at home improvement stores or on the net) to retain already expended heat and moisture in the winter. Note PLEASE do not use one of these with a gas dryer for obvious reasons, and yes you will get some lint into the laundry room, it does not bother us, just remember to clean the screen between loads.
I bought a pack of precut electric outlet cover insulators for exterior walls, you would be amazed how much cold air comes into your house through electrical boxes as they are not insulated, all you have to do is unscrew the cover, slip on the insulator over the switch or outlet, and reinstall the cover plate.
I will add more as I think of them, feel free to post ideas if you have any that have worked for you. Thanks!
One thing that really helped my wife and I in our particular situation this last year we bought a prius to drive to work, as we have a 60 mile commute, the car has actually made its own car payment with difference in fuel costs per month. I realize this idea may not work for everyone but it sure helped us.
Second, four years ago I built a 4'X8' solar can heater and hung it on the south wall of our home, again this idea may not be appealing to everyone but we live in the country so I do not have neighbors to worry about and I like free heat every sunny day in the winter. For those who are interested there are many videos on the net to show how to build one of these if interested, feel free to ask me questions if you have any. It cost me around #300 in materials and has been running for 4 winters if you include this one so far. It blows ~120 degree heat in from around 10 am to 4-5 pm every day the sun shines no matter the temperature outside, and my furnace does not run at all during that time. Again, just an idea but propane is expensive in my neck of the woods.
I also converted all of my lights in the house to cfl/led including the kitchen light that was an 80 watt fluorescent and is now an integrated led (no bulbs just the diodes) which uses 17 watts. This light is the most used in the house and my electric bill has dropped by 40$ per month.
Smaller ideas were venting our ELECTRIC dryer into the basement laundry room (via switch box with a screen you can get at home improvement stores or on the net) to retain already expended heat and moisture in the winter. Note PLEASE do not use one of these with a gas dryer for obvious reasons, and yes you will get some lint into the laundry room, it does not bother us, just remember to clean the screen between loads.
I bought a pack of precut electric outlet cover insulators for exterior walls, you would be amazed how much cold air comes into your house through electrical boxes as they are not insulated, all you have to do is unscrew the cover, slip on the insulator over the switch or outlet, and reinstall the cover plate.
I will add more as I think of them, feel free to post ideas if you have any that have worked for you. Thanks!
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