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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Save Energy Save Money Part One


As promised here is the first installment of info given to me by the BC hydro company.

No Cost Options
Here is a list of things you can do at home to save energy, followed by the amount it will save you per year.

  • Turn off two 60W lights for one hour a day when not in use. $3/yr
  • Shorten your shower time by one minute. $26/yr
  • Switch off your computer when not in use. $10/yr
  • Wash clothes in cold water twice a week. $25/yr
  • Hang two loads of laundry to dry a week. $18/yr
  • Turn down the heat by 4-5 degrees at night and when not at home. $39/yr
  • Set your thermostat 1 degree Celsius lower during heating hours. $8/yr
  • Skip the heat-dry feature on your dishwasher four times a week. $6/yr
  • Set your fridge to 4 degrees Celsius if it is not at 3 degrees. $3/yr
  • Turn off a TV for one hour a day when not in use. $3/yr
  • Unplug two chargers when the devices are not charging. $6/yr
  • Get rid of an old second fridge through BC Hydro's Refridgerator Buy-Back Program (includes $#0 rebate and free pick up). $114/yr
  • Turn off a video game console when not in use. $14/yr
There you have it folks. 13 ways to cut down on your hydro bill!

4 comments:

Laura said...

I work for the utility company here and another tip that is costless is unplugging things when not in use. Your dryer for instance still draws electricity when it is plugged in even if it isn't in use!!! Your tv and computer can do this too.

Anonymous said...

Great tips! Thanks for sharing :)

I am surprised by cutting back your shower 1 minute savings per year! Completely doable :)

Shevy said...

I was actually surprised that the savings are all so little. If you're paying over $100 per month for hydro and you save $3 per *year* (i.e. 25 cents per month) by doing something it's not a big financial incentive!

And, here in BC where our power is hydroelectric (i.e. clean technology) it even makes it seem less imperative from a green perspective (as opposed to people who get their power from, say, a coal generated plant).

That's too bad. I'm still doing a lot of these things but I'm just disappointed.

S said...

All those things are definately do-able. That is the type of list that I am going to have to print out and stick on the refridgerator.

There was a statistic at work (we have almost 15,000 employees) that if everyone shut their pc's at the end of every night, we would save $1.3 million per YEAR!!!!! Insane!