How to save on utilities?

Do we always know what we are paying for? And is it time to stop paying for what we do not need?

1. Carefully read all the points in the payment document. You may still be paying for services that have been disabled for a long time. It can be a radio point that has been silent for many years, or cable TV that you do not use.
2. Check the landline phone rate, it may be the maximum, and you may need the “city” once a month. Perhaps you should change the tariff to a cheaper one, or even refuse it altogether.
3. To reduce utility bills, pay them to banks that do not charge fees. It seems that small amounts for the year decently burden the family budget. It’s usually the cheapest way to pay online.
4. If you leave the house for more than five days, you may request a recalculation. Take care in advance of documents that confirm that you really did not live in your apartment. During the summer holidays get a substantial discount!

One of the most expensive resources is water. Paying extra money for it is not worth it. It is most effective to save on utilities by tidying up the apartment's water supply system.

1. Set counters if you haven’t done so yet. Every day, water supply and sanitation services are becoming more expensive, and especially for those who do not have metering devices in their apartments.
2. Check for leaks from time to time, for which you record the readings of water meters before leaving the apartment, and compare with those obtained upon return. This is especially significant if you leave your home for a couple of days. Check if the taps and toilet bowl are leaking. The water flowing dropwise in a month can reach a volume of hundreds of liters.
3. Significant savings on utilities is impossible without saving water, but this does not mean that you need to wash under a thin stream. Change the shower head to one with thinner openings. Wash in the shower - less water will be spent than in the bath.
4. Replacing dual-valve taps with a single lever can significantly reduce water consumption: water of the right temperature is immediately fed to the tap.
5. If there is one button on the tank of your toilet bowl - replace it with one that has an economical drain mode (two buttons). Throw away what you need to throw in a bucket, not a toilet — this is also a significant saving.
6. Do you know how much you can reduce utility bills if you brush your teeth with the tap turned off? Water consumption will decrease by 900 liters per month!
7. Another way to save money is to buy new appliances: a class “A” washing machine and dishwasher. These units will begin to consume less not only water, but also electricity.

Sitting in a darkened room is not only unpleasant, but also unhealthy. The eyes and nervous system will not say thank you for this. However, you can save on electricity if you approach the matter correctly.

1. Two-tariff and three-tariff meters help to save on utilities almost without any efforts. Mobile phones and other gadgets charge at night, and it will cost less. At night, you can program washing and washing dishes in a dishwasher - at night, electricity is the cheapest.
2. Replace conventional incandescent bulbs with energy saving. They are not so called for nothing - savings of up to 80%. In addition, the light from such lamps is more pleasant and more beneficial for vision.
3. So that the light does not burn in vain, illuminating empty rooms, you can install switches with motion sensors, or at least train yourself not to forget to turn off the light.
4. Do you have an electric stove? It is better to replace it with an induction one, it consumes significantly less electricity, in addition, such a stove will not only save on utility bills, but also make cooking easier.
5. Choose the size of the pan according to the size of the burners, otherwise up to half of the consumed electricity will go “into the air”.
6. Conventional cookers can be turned off five to ten minutes before the food is cooked, which also saves energy. Due to the residual heat, the food has time to fully cook without additional heating.
7. A gas stove will help to save on boiling water if you refuse an electric kettle. Do you use electric? Remove lime scale in time to avoid energy overruns. And press the power button only when it is really necessary, and not “just in case”
8. In the instructions for the refrigerator, it is not in vain that they write that it should be installed away from batteries and southern windows, and they are also not recommended to be placed close to the wall. All this leads to a deterioration in heat dissipation and an increase in energy consumption.
9. You can reduce utility bills by purchasing high-class household appliances with a low energy class A or B. This applies not only to refrigerators and washing machines, but also to vacuum cleaners, irons, stoves and even kettles!

To understand how high your heating costs are, compare the numbers on the bill with your neighbors. Do you think you pay more?

1. Make an independent calculation, for which the area of ​​housing is multiplied by the standard for heat and the price of a unit of measure of heat. What will turn out should be divided by the footage of all the apartments in the house, and multiplied by the area of ​​your apartment. In the event that you pay more than the resulting figure, contact your management company for clarification.
2. To save on utilities will help warming common areas of the house, for example, the entrance. Check with your neighbors how well the front door and the windows in the staircase keep heat, and if necessary, contact the management company.
3. For the winter, insulate windows, and especially the doors of balconies, a significant amount of heat goes through them. If possible, replace the old frames with double-glazed windows, at least two-chamber, and preferably energy-saving.
4. It is believed that the dark color of the batteries can increase heat transfer.
5. A constantly open window in winter is a source of increased heating costs. It is better to open the window for a couple of minutes than to keep the airing mode all day.