Saving on Water, Heat, and Electric this Christmas

This is a wonderful time of year to enjoy spending time with family eating delicious food, and going to parties. Unfortunately, despite all of the cookies and festivities, this time of year does tend to be rather expensive. Therefore, we have compiled a few tips to help keep the costs down this Christmas season:

Saving Water (from EPA-Winter Tips)

When hosting parties or cooking for large groups of people, we tend to keep the water in the sink running. The EPA states that running the tap water for a minute can waste two gallons of water. That’s a lot of water!

Instead, the EPA suggests that when cleaning up, you should scrape the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher instead of rinsing them. Another way to save is to fill the sink with soapy water instead of washing each dish individually. Then, all of the dishes can be rinsed together afterward.

Saving Heat

You have probably already heard the advice to turn down the thermostat. Let’s face it — sometimes it is too cold to do that. However, that party might be the perfect opportunity to lower the thermostat a few degrees. The bodies in your home will create heat, and your guests will appreciate that the house isn’t stuffy!

If your party will not be jam-packed with people, but you still want to save money, take this time to use that fireplace. A roaring fire is an excellent choice for an intimate holiday event, and the fire’s heat will allow you to turn down the thermostat.

Saving Electricity

They are beautiful, but Christmas lights can jack up the electricity bill.  One way to keep it from going overboard is to set your outdoor Christmas lights on timers, so they are only on when it is dark outside. In addition, use LED lights instead of regular bulbs to deck the halls. Inside, pull out all those candles you have gotten as gifts over the years. Like with a fireplace, candles create a cozy atmosphere, and you can turn off some indoor lights.

To learn more about energy efficiency, please contact FLAME!