Teach Me Tuesday: Saving Money on Utility Bills

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday! I spend a lot of time each week reading all of the great DIY tips out there in Blogland. Because there are so many fabulous projects that I can’t wait to try, I figured that it would be fun to feature some of my very favorites here each Tuesday.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

Upon visiting Katie at Making This Home, you will be amazed at how she and her husband have transformed their tiny (and when I say tiny, I mean T.I.N.Y. -only 480 square feet!!) German apartment from a shoe box into a real livable space. With a kitchen of only 36 square feet (no, I didn’t leave out a digit there), these two have really learned how to use all of their space and use it well.

Katie and Martin have not only made their space beautiful, but they are working to make the world more beautiful, too. They live a very green and simple life in Berlin, and Making This Home is packed with tons of great tips on living simpler and greener.

When I told Katie a few weeks ago that one of my favorite posts on her blog was the one on lowering your electric bills, she offered to write a guest post for me on saving money on your utility bills. Of course, I jumped at the chance to learn from her and was thrilled to be able to share the information with you.

Katie writes:

You know that really crummy feeling you get when you go to the grocery store and find that your family’s staple just went up another 50 cents? Well that’s the way we feel at our house when the power bill arrives sometimes. My husband and I really try to keep our power bills low to save money and keep green.

It’s a habit we started in the United States. Now that we’re living in Germany where power costs 3x as much, and meters measure our water usage to the liter, you can bet we’re doing everything we can to keep those bills low. And why not? It’s so easy.

Today I thought I’d share some of the simplest things we do to keep our money in our wallets. You don’t have to own your house to do any of them.

1. Invest in thick curtains
In the hot summer days that are approaching, thick curtains can act like a shield against the hot sun. Close them during the day to drastically reduce the temperature of the room. In the winter, do the opposite. Keep the curtains open during the day to let the sun warm the room, and close ‘em at night.
Total cost: $30 – $100 per window
Total savings: varies based on window quality and where you live

Country Living

2. Take fewer baths
I won’t argue; baths are an incredible, relaxing way to finish the day. They also happen to be expensive. You’re filling a large area with a lot of hot water that will be used for a short time. You might not be paying for your water to the liter like we are in Germany, though you’re paying to heat all that water, which adds up. Don’t stop taking baths, just be aware that they aren’t cheap.
Total savings: varies depending on how water is heated in your home (an electric water heater is far more expensive than a gas one)

3. Get programmable thermostats
There’s nothing so costly as keeping a house nice and toasty when you’re gone in the winter or cool in the summer. In the US, we actually carried around our own programmable thermostat to every house we rented. We’d take down the cheapo manual thermostat and put up ours. It was super easy and cost about $30. Our power company was offering rebates to people installing programmable thermostats, so we filled out a quick form and got a rebate.
Total cost: $0
Total time: 15 minutes

Martha Stewart

4. Program the thermostat
In the back of my head, it’s a little silly to even mention this point. The truth is, though, a lot of people don’t spend the time to set their thermostats. Our property manager said his owners didn’t even both putting the thermostats in since no one (but us!) ever set them. I’d rather spent five minutes programming the thing than a couple hours/days every month working to pay the difference in our utility bill.
Total time: 5 minutes
Total savings: double digits every month

Okay, I’ll admit that we so need to do the programmable thermostats in our house. We had them in our old house, and it made a tremendous difference in our electric bills. Since we’ve been in the new house, we just “haven’t had time” to make that 5 minute commitment…in the year that we’ve lived year. We’re seriously at Home Depot every day and we haven’t bothered to pick them up. How lame is that? Yeah, pretty lame. Tom, if you’re reading, add this to our to-do list.

A big thanks goes out to Katie for the excellent tips! I hope everyone puts them to good use. Be sure to check out Making This Home to read more fantastic tips and find out what life is like for an American living in Berlin.

Edited on May 5, 2009 to add this to Works for Me Wednesday: Frugal Edition!

Tagged as: DIY, Do it Yourselfer, Lowering Bills, Saving Money, Teach me Tuesday, Thrifty, Utility Bills