Dryers are quite convenient, but they are also an expensive convenience. In fact, most electric clothes dryers use roughly 5 kw of energy which is more than most central air conditioners. If you dry an average of a load of laundry a day, you are paying about $150 a year to dry your clothes.
The […]

Air leaks around windows and doors cost you money. It makes perfect sense. If air is escaping, then your air conditioner / heater has to work that much harder to keep the inside of your house at your desired temperature.
The problem is that these air leaks aren’t always readily apparent. The best way to check […]

If you are reading this, then you have likely have a computer and this will apply to you. If your computer is at home, it uses more energy than all of the other office equipment you have nearby combined. The problem is that turning off your computer every time you leave for a few minutes […]

Sometimes it takes no more than a turn of a knob to save you money. The cost of heating water is the third largest energy expense in the average home (after heating and cooling) and it typically accounts for about 14% of your overall utility bill.
A simple way to save money with your water […]

We’ll round out this week with another financial challenge to get your house prepared for the summer heat. If you have ceiling fans in your house, we’re going to make sure that all your ceiling fans are set and blowing the correct direction.
Using fans in conjunction with your air conditioner can save you a tremendous […]

Yesterday we had you walk through he house to close off any air conditioner vents in rooms you don’t use to reduce the amount of work that your air conditioner will need to use this summer. Today we’ll continue with that theme to make sure that your air conditioner filter is clean.
To keep your air […]

While it’s still Spring, summer is right around the corner and a good time to start preparing your house for those hot summer days so that you don’t spend more than you need to. The main area to concentrate on is taking actions that help reduce the cost of cooling your house since this can […]

Unlike your refrigerator, your freezer runs more efficiently when it’s tightly packed. That means if your freezer isn’t completely full, you should place something inside the freezer to fill up the empty space and that is exactly what we’re going to do today.
One way to accomplish this by placing bottles of water in your freezer […]

As you sleep, when you’re on vacation, when you’re at home and when you’re not, appliances around your house are secretly using small amounts of energy even though they have been turned off. This power usage is referred to as “phantom electricity loads” and depending how how many electric gadgets you have around the house, […]

It has almost become a mantra for those trying to save money on energy when purchasing new appliances: Make sure that when you purchase an appliance, it has an Energy Star rating to save money. It seems that the Energy Star rating may not mean as much as many of us have been lead to […]

It’s always a nice break when I come across a piece written about personal finance or saving money that has a bit of humor in it (I think that is one aspect of personal finance education that is almost non existent - if you could write a personal finance book that also incorporated humor, you’d […]

I’ve been thinking about hidden costs lately when I came across this post in the forums from princessperky
As I knelt down to change my newest additions diaper, I realized I should turn on the light already. And I thought how the little things about winter that make it more expensive. It isn’t just the high […]

I was reading about American Standard and how its stock took a beating over at msnbc when I came across this paragraph:
Furthermore — and I realize this is a strange thing to say — the toilets in most American homes are downright inferior to what you’ll find in the average Japanese home. We’re an advanced […]

If you have felt the pinch with rising gas prices, you’re going to get another one come this winter. It’s going to be an expensive winter keeping your house warm and it’s worth the time to get your house in shape for the coming winter.
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, heating a […]