I remember when I initially posted about my ideas and some people laughed and said it was silly. Well, I just got my $160 bill and I'm very happy.
I live in a two bedroom apartment in Melbourne with no temperature control. It's me, three small indoor dogs and a cat.
WHAT I DID:
*called provider and had a timer installed on my entertainment system. This shuts off the power to my TV, DVD, Nintendo, etc completely after a particular duration. There's a small led light that flashes and if I'm watching a movie, pushing any button on the remote will stop it turning off until the duration of time has passed again. I rarely leave my TV on, but the turning off completely was what got me, because standby sucks power.
Completely unplugged anything that I wasn't using at that time. The only thing that stays plugged in is my refrigerator. Your microwave, for example, costs more to keep the clock running than the reheating. I'm unsure if turning off at the PowerPoint has the same effect, however I just unplugged entirely as I found it personally easier.
sold my washing machine. I hand wash everything now. This means I stay on top of washing otherwise it becomes too much, and I end up with less as you are less likely to just throw things in the wash after one use. This saves power on the machine itself, as well as water, and power on heating any water. I wash small items in a bucket, and large items (like linen) in the bath.
My workplace has showers, so I go to work 30 mins earlier and shower there. Save water, save power on heating water, and I've found its encouraged me to exercise more. I used to drive, or cab. Now I take a train and walk 30 minutes to work because I can shower there, and start my day fresh.
Regular cleaning of fridge. The less food in there, the less power you use as it doesn't have to work so hard to circulate air.
wash dishes as I use them. I also feel this is cleaner because dishes aren't marinating in the dish water. If I owned the property, I'd probably get a dishwasher and use that instead as I live alone and would need it maybe once a week.
Read through my power bill. Highest rates are day time. This used to be my peak usage also because I'd leave my portable air con on for the animals in the hot summer. Now, if cool enough outside, I open the windows at night AND run the air con. Theoretically it should work better with closed windows, but it doesn't. Even if I need a blanket on, I'll leave the window open because it means when I close the house up to go to work the next day the house will stay cooler for longer. And I won't need to leave the air con on throughout the day.
UV / sunblocking fabric. Looks similar to greenhouse fabric, but you can get it in white. Hung it over the windows that the sun hits hardest, resulting in less heat being retained in summer.
experimented with keeping various doors throughout the house closed to see where the heat mostly came from. Turned out to be my bedroom, the kitchen and the front lounge. Moved my bedroom and used the hot room as a guest/junk room. I keep that door, the kitchen and the lounge door, closed 99% of the time. Even if I'm in there, I shut the door behind me. Keep that house cool!
download shows rather than watch on TV. Whilst this saves money as you're not paying for content, it also saves power as the computer, phone or tablet you're watching it on doesn't have to be plugged into a power source whilst you're watching it. You also may find you save money because you're not seeing as many advertisements!
fridge stocking. I buy bare minimum. Nothing is refrigerated. Because that means it can degrade and, as I live alone, I don't necessarily get to eat everything I buy before it degrades. I'm vegan, so it's a bit different for others, but I use rice milk powder and I don't have cheese or meat. If I want, say, tacos, I'll buy the tomatoes, lettuce etc that I need and only by what I need. Less waste, less power use in the fridge as mentioned above.
lamps instead of overhead lights. Also, unplugging those lamps when not in use.
*when I found out about peak and off peak rates, I changed my shifts at work. My power supplier is peak Monday to Friday, 7am to 11pm. So I now work day shifts. I work nights on weekends. Which not only means when I am home and using power, it's usually off peak, but also that my employer is happy as most people don't want those shifts. Win!
- cancelled my internet. My mobile phone is an unlimited prepaid plan. $2 a day and unlimited internet. So I tether to it. No modem having to be plugged in 24/7 plus one less $60 monthly bill
Submitted December 20, 2014 at 02:15PM by sheririana http://ift.tt/1zLpMdL Frugal
No comments:
Post a Comment