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The Border Watch : October 31st 2013
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ADVERTISING FEATURE How to save on energy bills around your home Utility bills can easily consume a large portion of your savings and monthly pay cheques. Australian’s on average spend over 30% of their pay on living expenses such as utility bills, so why not learn to reduce your utility bills and save money on electricity, water, gas and other home bills? Change your Light Bulbs Energy efficient light bulbs use almost 25% less electricity then that of a regular light bulb. Changing these are easy – simply go to your local Woolworths or Coles and purchase 5 star energy rated bulbs and screw into your lights as if they were regular bulbs. Doing this will easily save you a couple hundred dollars each year! Is your home’s insulation poor? Your house should have high quality insulation in the roof, doing this will allow you to stay cool in summer while keeping warm in winter. You can also check to make sure that the windows and doors in your house are not letting too much air in, as this will make your heating and cooling bills rather large. An easy solution to window and door insulation is to use ‘door snakes’ which are like thin bean bags that lie behind the door. INSTALL THE RIGHT SOLAR SYSTEM AND SAVE Fix your leaking taps A leaking tap can fill a swimming pool over the course of 1 year. Imagine how much money that is wasting! Fixing your leaking tap is as easy as going to the hardware house again and buying a $2.00 washer and re-installing it. Use fans rather than Air Conditioning Running a fan is nearly 80% cheaper than that of air conditioning. Use the fan in family rooms for the majority of the day and only turn the air con on at night times for individual sleeping rooms. You could find yourself saving a couple hundred dollars over the course of summer. Turn your computer off Turn your computer off when you are not using it. Most computers have a 300+ watt power supply that is still eating away at your electricity bill even while you are asleep. The savings on electricity you get from turning appliances off is seriously under rated. If you must have your computer on, ensure that the screen auto turns off after a given period of time. Clear your Dryer’s lent trap Lent in your dryer builds up over time and can not only become a fire hazard, but also become a source of slowing the function of a dryer. This means you will have to run your dryer for extended periods to dry your cloths. In fact, why not try and use the clothes line more? Saves a lot of money! Ensure your house gets shade When doing the gardening or landscaping of your house, trees that provide shade for your entire house are quite worth while. They reduce energy bills and also keep you cooler in summer. Change your shower heads Water efficient shower heads offer strong strength while using half the water. Saving water can be easy by just installing a shower head that has been approved by Water Australia. I managed to cut my water bill down by $250 last year by showering less and using a green friendly shower head. 16 - The Border Watch, Thursday, October 31, 2013 631904
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