Saving Money and Water with Rain Barrels
Saving money and saving the environment is always a good notion. Conserving water with rain barrels is one of those win-win good notions that will save money as well as the environment.
Rain barrels are a great way to collect and store rain runoff from your roof that would otherwise be lost to runoff and diverted to storm drains, streams, rivers, etc… Water captured in rain barrels is a free source of water for watering gardens and lawns and of course has the added advantage of helping the environment.
The model behind the use of rain barrels is quite simple, the more water we are able to conserve the more money we save from municipal water and sewer charges while helping save the environment by not using treated water for our lawns, gardens or other outside uses.
Utilizing the natural water which is free of chemicals such as fluoride, chlorine and other additives found in our household water saves the environment from the treated water and the treatment process and is also healthier for plants and gardens. By collecting rainwater, you can reduce the load on your local water treatment facilities.
Use of rain barrels utilizes a natural process that reduces the burden on our existing infrastructure. Using rain water will reduce your water bill whether you have a municipal water supply that charges by the gallon used or a well that has a pump needed to draw the water. In addition, a number of municipalities have separate sewer charges that are based on the amount of water consumed. For homeowners that have sump pumps in their basement, the rain barrel has another plus since they are collecting water that would normally seep into the ground next to the foundation.
Rain barrels are generally inexpensive and are practical way to save money. Reducing environmental impact is just an added bonus.
Rain barrels can be purchased from many garden catalogs or you can make your own following directions found on a number of web sites. Rain barrels operate pretty much trouble free.
Whether you construct your own rain barrel or you purchase one, make sure it is securely covered, securely set and accessible for cleaning. Most all rain barrels can sit conveniently under any residential gutter down spout. The rain barrels should be installed at or near ground level, on a level surface to prevent tipping when the barrel is full. Don’t position the rain barrel near stairs or structures that would pose a danger for the area.
Make sure the rain barrel has a screen for water collection and the barrel should be slightly elevated off the ground to allow gravity feed when it is in use. The water should be used or drained regularly to reduce the risk of mosquitoes or contamination.
Rain barrels are becoming very popular in rural and urban areas mostly for environmental reasons but the costs savings these products bring should make them even more widely adopted by those who like cheap home living.
Save Money on Lost Water
Saving money and saving water is a win-win plan. Save yourself some money and help save the environment, tough to object to that plan. In order to save money by saving water the quick start is to find where you may have leaks in your water usage. Using less water is the goal and before you stop cleaning your dishes it is a good idea to see where the greatest amount of waste is first.
The initial action to help locate those leaks in your water usage is to review the water bill. This requires taking a good look at your water bill over several months. Look for trends and look for spikes in water use. Call your local water utility to find out what the average water usage for your area is, most municipalities have this information. Once you have reviewed any glaring problems in water use, its time to look at any areas of waste within your home.
A dripping toilet is a common water thief. One simple method to discover water dripping from the tank into the toilet bowl is to drop some food coloring in the toilet water tank and then check back in 20-30 minutes to see if any of the colored water has leaked from the tank into the toilet bowl. If the water has seeped through it times to check the seal on the base of the tank, the flappers and washers. These parts are easy to replace and relatively inexpensive items found at most all home improvement stores.
You can reduce the amount of water an older toilet uses by replacing the unit altogether. Older bathroom toilets generally use about 5 gallons of water per flush. Current toilet models use less water, toilets sold after 1994 are required to use no more than1.6 gallons per flush. Dual-flush, which operate as ultra low flow toilets can use as little as .5 gallons per flush.
And try not to use your toilet as a trash can when cleaning up little items with tissue, the extra flushes wastes water.
Keep an eye out for dripping faucets as well. Clean and dry the sink after your last use to see if any water is coming out or if the sink is wet again between uses. You can fix a dripping faucet by replacing washers which again is inexpensive and easy to accomplish.
While you are in the bathroom, it’s time to consider some tactics to limit water use. Look at limiting water use in the shower since this is generally a big water hog in the average family. Be prepared before you turn the water on to take a shower. Turn the water off while you soap up and initiate the shampoo process, turn it on again to rinse and get out.
The same process can be used when brushing your teeth. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth or when you shave. You can even turn off the faucet while you wash your hands until rinse time.
To further lower water use, check any excessive water use when doing the laundry. Cut back water usage when washing clothes by running larger loads. The average family does more than six loads of laundry per week. The number of loads can be cut back measurably by increasing the load sizes and separating laundry that has to be separated not just due to preference.
For home drinking water, keep drinking water in the refrigerator in a large container instead of letting the faucet run while you wait for cold water to flow.
To save money and curtail water use in the garden, choose garden plants that are indigenous to the area’s climate. Indigenous plants survive on the temperature and precipitation that is part of the natural environment and need less unnatural intervention including additional watering. This doesn’t mean all of these plants flourish without some additional attention but they will do better than non native species. To go the extra step you can find plants that are especially adept at managing the precipitation in your area and set up the landscaping specifically to save water.
Save some money while protecting the environment, it doesn’t get any better than that with cheap home living.
Quick Tips to Save Money on Heating
Saving money on winter heating bills can often be done with very low expenditures or hard work. Management of your existing resources is the biggest factor in reducing the heating expenses. A pleasant side effect is the less energy consumed the less emissions there will be polluting our environment. Save money and do a little to help to stop the damage to the environment caused by burning fossil fuels in your furnace.
1. Replace your old thermostat with a programmable model. Low-cost programmable thermostat models sell for around $25 and can easily pay back their cost within a couple of months. Better yet, they can save you more than $100.00 each year. The simple value of programmable thermostats is the device will automatically change the trigger on the thermostat for the home temperature so the heating and cooling of the house is operating more efficiently at the right time of day. For example, keeping the heat high at night while a family sleeps is clearly an inefficient use of heat and money. The programmable thermostat can be set to automatically drop the temperature at night time and then automatically turn it up at preset time in the morning. The thermostat can be preset to also turn the heat down during the day to let sunshine warm a home or keep the heat off when the family is not home. A programmable thermostat is pretty much a must have device based on costs and savings.
2. The follow up to the programmable thermostat is general rules on setting the temperature in the home. Be sure to set your thermostat as low as possible in the winter while still being comfortable. The closer your indoor temperature is to the outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall heating bill will be. If you still don’t use a programmable thermostat, shame on you, and make sure not to set the thermostat at a warmer setting than normal when you first get up. This will not warm your home any faster and it usually results in excessive heating which costs you money.
3. Check for window air cracks and spaces where the cool air can coem in. Repairing even some leaks can save a fair amount of money. Loss of heat from drafts along windows is a big drain on the heating system. Repairing these cracks and leaks can be performed by caulking along the frame and making sure the window as well as the storm window shut tight and snug.
4. Seal the leaks along door openings as well. Check to see if you feel a breeze at the bottom and sides of your door frames and doorways. Purchasing door blocks and sweeps to help block the flow of cool air will keep your rooms warmer and use less energy.
5. Close the heating vents in rooms that are rarely used. There is no use heating a room that nobody is using. The one issue you need to take care about is determining where your thermostat sensors are located. If they are located in a room that you close off, you may actually make your furnace work harder as it tries to warm a room that you have effectively shut off. Follow up by closing the doors to rooms that are not often used. This will keep the furnace from heating more space than necessary. Keep all your closet doors closed. There is no need to heat your closets during the winter.
6. Use the power of sun for heating and protect against fast cooling. Close the curtains on north facing windows to add an insulating barrier. This will help shield them and make it easier to keep the house warmer. Opening any curtains on the south side of the home along the windows will let in more sunshine. Be sure to close them after the sun has gone down. Using the sun and the warm and cool air outside of your home properly can help maintain room temperature and help avoid unnecessary use of the furnace.
7. Have your furnace checked periodically by a professional to make sure it is operating efficiently. Not only will this save you money now by having it work at top performance, it will also save you money in the long run by extending the life of this equipment. Dirty filters and dirty valves reduce the furnaces efficiency measurably. Maintenance isn’t necessary every year and you can inspect the furnace yourself as well as change the filters by yourself, the filters are cheap and should be changed every two months. Change your furnace filter once a month. Dirty filters reduce airflow, making your furnace work harder and lowering the performance and efficiency of the entire heating system which ultimately costs you more money
Remember, saving on the heating bill can come from very quick and easy patches in the system. Ignoring these drains on heat use may only cost a few to several dollars a month but these numbers add up quick. And saving on heating costs not only helps the family budget but helps reduce emissions and helps the environment. Cuddle up under that blanket at night with a movie at home and save money while you save the environment.