Goal For The Green

Guest Post
by Johnathan Rivers

Tired of not knowing what your energy bill is going to be each month? Retail energy providers in Texas, and other states nationwide offer a sort of flat rate monthly energy plan. Your bill is calculated based on your average energy usage, and what you pay is more or less the same each month. This enables you to budget better and more accurately gauge your energy usage so you can focus even more on living green.

If you don’t live in a state that has flat-rate energy costs, you can still take steps to make your monthly energy bill more predictable while striving to reduce your consumption. Start with your climate control unit and your washing appliances.

1) Change the thermostat when the seasons change

Lux Products' Model TX900TS Touch Screen Thermostat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first thing most people do when Summertime rolls around is crank down their thermostat, when in fact, they should be doing the opposite. Instead of setting the thermostat to 65 in the Summer time – a temperature that your home may not even reach in 90 degree weather unless it’s extremely well insulated. Instead – set it to 74-78.
The difference in temperature between your home and outside should be the focus. A 74 degree home in 90 degree weather feels relatively similar to a 65 degree home in 80 degree weather. In other words, your body reacts differently to a room’s temperature depending on how relatively warm it is outside.

For colder seasons, take the same approach but from the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of setting the thermostat to 78, set it at 68 and wear a pair of long pajamas or a hoodie inside if you’re more on the cold-natured side.
Allowing your thermostat to work at a similar level throughout the year, and thus consume roughly the same amount of energy, is an easy to way to make your energy bill more predictable.

2) Develop a schedule for washing clothes and running the dishwasher
Not only do your washing machine and dishwasher use electricity to run, they also pull from your hot water heater, which can further affect your electricity or gas costs.

For most people, running these energy-intensive appliances is sporadic. They use them when they need to do so.  But, when you consider that no other devices in your home – besides your air conditioner and perhaps your refrigerator – use more energy than your washing appliances, it’s worth looking at developing a schedule for washing clothes and dishes to help make your monthly bill more predictable.

A dishwasher containing clean dishes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Instead of using your dishwasher after every dinner, consider rinsing dishes off and waiting until it gets full before operating it. Create a protocol for when you wash – for example, commit to running the dishwasher every Sunday night and Wednesday night. Do the same for washing laundry. Designate two nights a week (or less if you’re single or don’t have kids) to wash laundry. If you have the same number of wash cycles each month for your big appliances, you use roughly the same amount of energy. The outcome is, you’re rewarded with a more consistent and predictable power bill each month.

Do you want more consistent energy bills, so you can better plan your budget? Start with making these adjustments and being consistent when it comes to your home’s most energy intensive appliances. It’s easy, and you can start today.