Smart Renovations to Save on Your Water and Electric Bill
Guest Post from Joel Sidaka
As a property owner, it is quite common to spend around $300-$400 on utility bills every month.
Sometimes, it can even go as high as $500!
This can be a hard pill to swallow.
Fortunately, you can reduce your utility bills by doing a few renovations and we have gathered some that are worth trying.
8 Ways to Save on Your Water and Electric Bill
1. Look at your Hot Water System
If you own rental properties, then you clearly have a real estate investment to take care of.
That means you have to be willing to do renovations that would help you reduce the utility bills to keep your tenants happy and content.
Heating hot water is one of the biggest power users in your home, and these days there are several alternatives.
A Solar Hot Water, or a Heat Pump, are both alternatives that can save between 60% and 90% of water heating costs.
2. Upgrade the Clothes Washer
With an energy-saving washer, it is possible to save water that could fill up three backyard swimming pools!
That means you’ll be able to save $135 per year, especially if you’re still using a washer that’s over 10 years old.
3. Weather-stripping Should Be Applied
Contrary to popular belief, weather-stripping is not that difficult to install, but the effects it could have are definitely life changing.
For instance, without weather-stripping, you can feel the cold wind coming through your doors, but once it has been installed, it will be able to keep the rain and air from coming in and out of the room.
It’s also an inexpensive project that wouldn’t take much of your time to install.
Even those without any home improvement skills are capable of putting these on.
4. Making Use Of A Smart Meters
More and more homes now have a smart meter, but are you taking full advantage of it?
Most electricity providers allow you to check your power use on an hourly basis using a phone app.
However, you ought to know that smart metering programs do vary, but the basic idea is the same.
We use that to ensure that we are minimising power usage when the tariffs are high and maximise it when power is either low cost, or free (If you have solar power).
5. Install Low Flow Fixtures
In Australia most properties now have low flow showerheads.
Don’t forget that other fittings can also be converted to low flow.
A small investment like this would allow you to save as much as 60% on your water bills.
6. Install Timers
Timers ensure that your water heater is turned off at night or when it is not in use.
If you do this, you will never forget to turn off the heater during peak hours.
7. Replace Your Existing Lights with LEDs
Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) used to be one of the most effective ways to save money.
Things have now moved on with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) dropping on price.
These typically use half the power of CFLs (85% of incandescent bulbs), start faster than CFLs and last around 15,000 hours.
8. Look at Installing Solar Panels
With the popularity of solar power on the roof Photo Voltaic (PV) Panels have never been cheaper.
With continually rising power prices the installation price can be recovered in a few years
Final Words
We all want to go green and be able to lower our utility bills.
By following these tips, you will be able to save a lot of money from utility costs.
You will also be able to ensure the satisfaction of any tenants you may have, at the same time.