Ways To Save On Summer Utility Costs

Gosh, is it blazing hot outside for anyone else? We’re still in the beginning of summer here so the evenings and mornings are still bearable, but here pretty soon it’s going to be indoor season and the AC is going to be earning it’s keep. So naturally I’ve been doing a bit of research on ways I can help keep those utility costs from skyrocketing because I need to preserve my thrifting budget, haha.

We have a couple of things in place that are already working in our favor: Metal awnings on most of the windows (I recently removed a few when working on our curb appeal) to keep the sun from heating up rooms unnecessarily and our unit is on a side of the house that gets less sunlight than the other sides of the house. As part of a year long collaboration with Rheem, I want to chat a bit today about this heat and the effect it has on our utility bills.

Short of paying a fortune to have all our walls ripped down and reinsulated with the best stuff, what else can I do?

Low Cost & No Cost Ideas for Saving On Utility Bills:

1. Because I live in an older home, some rooms seem to be more prone to getting hotter during the day than others. Instead of turning my beloved temperature of 75 down, I can get a small window unit for cheap on craigslist to cool those rooms when we need them to be more comfortable.
2. Replace filters. I know this now that I’ve started looking into these things (I was a first time homeowner before my parents so I didn’t grow up knowing an awful lot) but at least every season check, clean and replace those filters.
3. Lower drapes or even close them when the sun is on the side of the house the windows face. This helps to reduce the natural warming up the sun provides much like our awnings.
4. Toaster ovens, crock pots, microwaves and outdoor grills. Avoid using the oven and stove if you can help it. A 350 plus degree fahrenheit oven is definitely going to heat up the kitchen.
5. Make up for the increase in electric use by lessening other bills. I rely heavily on rainwater collection during the summer months to help makeup for the extra electricity use. We use this for wet outdoor play, gardening and rinsing off the car/patio/bikes/etc. I also save extra water from my kitchen sink to water plants!
6. Caulk. The caulk around my home is in very sad shape. So one of my upcoming “not so fun” projects is going to be tearing out the thick old caulk and replacing it with fresh caulk.
7. Let timers and solar power do their thing. Utilize lights in the yard that will run on solar and for lights you need extra reliability from, choose motion sensing and dusk to dawn lights to save on the power draw. See more landscaping lighting advice here.
8. Air dry dishes.
9. Wash clothes on “cold.”
10. When I feel like I’m getting hot in the house and want to crank the A/C down, I go outside for 20 minutes. Perspective is everything, isn’t it?

Do you have any low cost/no cost ideas for keeping those electric bills down this summer? I feel like some of these things takes a bit of a lifestyle shift but I’m happy and I hope you’ll give them a go, too.