Energy saving / cost saving ideas

[Monocrom]

I make my coffee at home. It amazes me how much people will spend for a cup of coffee compared to how inexpensive it is to make it at home.

Definitely this one. Forget Starbuck's. Even Dunkin' Donuts is insanely expensive. I just make coffee at home, and basically save a literal small fortune every year.

 

[letschat7]

I calculated cost of a cup of coffee made at home by buying regular quality beans, grinding, and using coffee press. It included everything down to cost of water, and electricity to boil, grind, and reheat. At that time I could get about 2 lb. for $10, now it's typically $15 and up.

Cost per cup was about 15-20 cents (CDN). It's up somewhat but even if that doubles, that's way less than buying the cheapest coffee outside; but I do this on occasion.

Dave

I wanted to make Turkish coffee a few years ago but it takes like $500 for start up and a Bunn was under $150. USD of course.

 

[tech25]

I make my coffee at home. It amazes me how much people will spend for a cup of coffee compared to how inexpensive it is to make it at home.

Agreed. I also prefer my coffee. My biggest cost is buying the beans. At one point my wife got me a subscription for small batch coffees and I got to taste my way through different flavor profiles until I found the ones I like.


As far as batteries, while I try to use rechargeable; a lot of kids toys require multiple AA or AAA batteries and break easily. I don't like using rechargeable batteries in those because I had too many batteries get lost or thrown out.

 

[PaladinNO]

Measures I've taken in the house: replacing all the old E14 / E27 incandescent light bulbs with LED (I swear by Osram or Philips).
Even the T5 / T8 tubes where possible (kitchen, laundry room). Or in the case of the bathroom, we replaced the whole G9 fixture with an LED-version.

I had a twin-T12 leftover industrial fixture over my work bench for a time, and my brain was getting slowly cooked from the heat.
Replaced it with a pair of 600x600 Ledvance LED-panels, and I was so happy! Not just from the instant illumination, but also from no longer feeling the wasted energy turned into heat over my head.

Turn the lights off in rooms that are vacant or not in regular use. Close the doors to preserve heat in the rooms. Lower the temperature by even 1-2°C can make a big difference over time. Lower the thermostat from 20°C til 18ºC and buy an extra sweater and / or blanket.

Use the wood burning stove more, if you have one, instead of relying mostly on the electric heaters or heat pump (we are sinning on this when it's a steady -20°C or colder outside for weeks at a time). And if the stove is in another room or adjacent to the living room, use a cheap floor fan to spread the warmth from the stove faster.

My personal favourite for getting warm: do a long gaming session, getting that high-end CPU and GPU nice and toasty. It's a perfect foot warmer, and you're having fun at the same time!

 

[Monocrom]

Okay, this one is a bit weird, but no reason it can't be used today, if you own a wood-burning stove. Sign up for physical junk mail. A ton of it. Look through it for cool free stuff or coupons. Then literally burn the rest in the stove. Free fuel. I don't do this, but I have heard of it being done.

 

[letschat7]

Okay, this one is a bit weird, but no reason it can't be used today, if you own a wood-burning stove. Sign up for physical junk mail. A ton of it. Look through it for cool free stuff or coupons. Then literally burn the rest in the stove. Free fuel. I don't do this, but I have heard of it being done.

Or get some free Tidbits news papers.

 

[ironhorse]

We are on city water and pay by the gallon. Any time I need hot water, while waiting for the water at the tap or shower to get hot, I run the water into a bucket, and use that to flush the toilet. I also use the water collected in the dehumidifier for either watering plants, or for flushing the toilet.

 

[thermal guy]

Back when I was in prison I worked for a male-to-female transgender washing laundry by hand. We or me with another worker would ring out the items that were big items and hang them to dry on a wall or rarely on some sort of line.

This yielded better results than using an industrial dryer ran by idiots. I also could afford all the soy sauce, fish pouches, and brown rice that I wanted to eat every night.

That might be a weee bit too much information 😂

 

[Fuzzywuzzies]

I hang numorous articles of clothing on hangers instead of using a dryer. They smell great and last longer. The dryer is for the under clothes and low heat setting gets it done. No shrinking them either.

A table fan in front of an air vent helps boost the ac air.

Plug stuff to 6 strip outlets like phone chargers and turn off said 6 strip outlet when not in use.

Full plastic bottle with water to fill unused spaces in the refrigerator and freezer helps keep it cooler.

Drive the speed limit. It's amazing how much you save on fuel versus keeping up with the commuter train each day. You'll arrive about 2 minutes later than driving fast enough to keep up with the crowd.

Dang is this ever correct. Driving trucks (and all manner of other vehicles) with my Dad for nearly a decade taught me a lot about the fine art of not burning fuel you don't have to burn. I get significantly better economy than most in the same vehicles. I've even drafted other trucks - not very legal, and certainly don't recommend it - to see what the savings are. It's significant, but not nearly enough to cover the fines or the insurance bill if you rear-end your mate on the highway...

But yes, for goodness sake stop treating the speed limit like a target. The cumulative savings are massive if you back off even 5-10% down below the limit. Mono nailed it with his comment above about economising trips, too. You don't have to save anything on fuel you don't even use in the first place...!

 

[orbital]

+

My electric billing cycle is 20th~20th every month;
From April 20th~May 20th the total of my electric bill including all the fees & taxes was $35.86

I could go on with how I save/not use energy, but alot is common sense.
With everything off, my entertainment system used about the same as my 7 outside filament LED lights I have on 12hrs everyday.
That entertainment system is effectively never connected to the wall, I run it off solar batteries anyway

This isn't just some one month thing, it's how I am everyday, year after year

____________________________________________________
Also; I'm way, way too cheap to go out to eat

 

[Dave_H]

I priced making an ordinary tuna salad sandwich at home using low-cost store brands. This includes whole-wheat bread (but not the fancy whole-grain type which is about twice the price), and flaked tuna, with some chopped celery and a couple of dollops of salad dressing.

Five sandwiches works out to around $4, so 80c each.


Dave

 

[iacchus]

Tuna fish sandwiches are delicious.

 

[letschat7]

Since I hardly buy lights now I have a much bigger budget for food.

 

[Monocrom]

Buy more lights, have less money for food.
I just came up with the perfect Flashaholic weigh-loss routine.

 

[letschat7]

I got 180 lights and nothing but Lucifer headlamps seems interesting.

 

[tech25]

I always wanted to try one especially the 18500 to have compatibility with my HDS 18500 and Malkoff MD3 but there aren't many reviews out there on them.

I got 180 lights and nothing but Lucifer headlamps seems interesting.

 

[raggie33]

date a big women or guy back in my 20s i dated a women named vertha she was around 750 pounds but ona cold night i was warm and she gave me shade in the summer. she woukd freak out from time to time and beat me up and she onky aite porkk rinds but she was the best women i ever dated. and im nit just saying this becuase she is outside trying to knock down my front door

 

[raggie33]

edit she was 109 pounds and so charming . and onky aite salads and cumcumbers .

 

[iacchus]

Vertha, give Raggie his phone back and let him go

 

[letschat7]

date a big women or guy back in my 20s i dated a women named vertha she was around 750 pounds but ona cold night i was warm and she gave me shade in the summer. she woukd freak out from time to time and beat me up and she onky aite porkk rinds but she was the best women i ever dated. and im nit just saying this becuase she is outside trying to knock down my front door

I dated girls light enough I could lift them with one arm in my 20's. Dating was cheap as most just wanted Taco Bell or to play video games at their house.