Household budgets are stretched pretty thin, these days. As we suffer through recessionary times balancing a month budget can be even more of a challenge than it is during the so-called abundant days. One of the biggest headaches is your utility bill. Many homeowners open this envelope or log in to their online account with a great deal of trepidation each month. Take some time and find out how you can reduce utility bills before they spiral out of control completely.

One of the first places to start, when you are considering how to reduce utility bills, is your air-conditioning unit and/or heat furnace. In hotter climates, the air-conditioning unit accounts for the lion’s share of a typical home utility bill, whilst in more temperate climes the furnace can really work overtime during the cooler months and add considerably to the annual tally. Make sure that the unit has been serviced recently, pipes are being cleared of any debris or mold accumulation and that you replace the filters regularly for optimum efficiency.

Why not get some help from the utility company to reduce utility bills? Check with your provider to see if they can enroll you in an automated power saving program. Some companies allow you to participate in a program where they will interrupt your service for brief periods, during times of heavy demand elsewhere. Companies will normally issue a credit to your account for participation.

Pick up the phone and call your utility company and ask them if they would send an expert over to really analyze your usage. The expert will be able to advise you ways to save money against your monthly tally.

Warm air rises and can escape through a badly insulated loft. If you looking for a good way to reduce utility bills, add insulation up there. Whilst looking for places that air can escape, check around all your windows and doors for leaks.

Replace all your bulbs with Energy Star-compliant items. Doing so will have a significant effect if you really want to reduce utility bills. These bulbs can use as much as 75% less energy. Whilst on the subject of lighting, don’t forget to turn lights off in a room when you are not in there. Turn off and remove plugs for all appliances when not in use.

You do not need to use your dishwasher every day. You can help reduce utility bills, including consumption of water, by only running the dishwasher every other day. Why not wash some items by hand or reuse glasses during the day without washing each one unnecessarily.

One of the most cost effective ways to reduce utility bills, especially in older houses, is to install door draft stoppers and draft snakes around windows. Very often older houses can settle as time goes by and tiny gaps can appear in many places, under and around doors and windows. These gaps can be very expensive to repair and most of the time it is far more cost effective to simply place the flexible draft stopper or snake in all your problem areas.

Tags: cleaning, draftproof, home repair, House and Home, Saving Money

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 8:58 am and is filed under House and Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.