It All Adds Up, The Podcast

Fridge Finance

Depending on the age, type, and size of your refrigerator(s) and freezer(s), you could be spending over $300 per year to keep your food cold! Tighten the door seal, organize and label your food, and let your food cool off before putting it in the refrigerator or freezer to save money on your electricity bill.

Hang Dry, Hang Loose

Air drying clothes can save the average US household with an electric dryer almost $100 per year! But even with machine drying, huge savings can be achieved by upgrading to an EnergyStar heat pump dryer. Look into purchasing some dryer balls to even further reduce costs!

Front-Loaded Savings

Front load, EnergyStar clothes washing machines provide a low-cost way to clean the 320 loads of laundry that the average US household does per year. Even further financial savings can be achieved by washing with less hot water and making sure to run the washing machine only when it’s full.

Wash By Hand?

Is it cheaper to wash your dishes by hand or to use a dishwasher? It depends on how often you run your dishwasher and how much water you use to wash dishes by hand. The average household spends about $105 per year to wash dishes; learn how to reduce this expense by 60%!

Money Leaks

About 13% of the water bill for an average US household accounts for water that is lost to household leaks. That’s $112 per year wasted on water that isn’t even used! By repairing dripping faucets and fixing broken pipes, you can minimize household leaks and put money back in your pocket.

Wash Your Hands!

The average US household spends $249 per year to use their sinks! Sink usage at home has increased over 21% during the pandemic, adding $52 to this average annual expense, for a total of $301. Installing aerators and turning off the sink while you brush your teeth can reduce your costs by up to 50%!

Squeaky Clean

The average household spends $312 per year for the water and energy costs to take showers and baths! You can reduce this expense by 50% or more by taking colder and shorter showers. Upgrading to a low-flow shower head alone can save you up to $78 per year!

Scalding Hot Savings

The average US household spends $296 every year to heat water! Adding some low-cost insulation to your water heater tank and lowering the hot water temperature to 120F are easy ways to reduce this expense. Upgrading to a heat pump water heater can reach annual savings as high as $148!

LIT

Do you still use a lot of CFLs and incandescent light bulbs in your home? LEDs use about 40% and 85% less energy than CFLs and incandescents, respectively, and LEDs can operate for up to 50,000 hours before replacement! Switching to all LEDs can provide huge savings for your electricity bill!

Money-Sucking Vampires

The average US household spends about $200/year (or almost 2 months’ worth of electricity bills) on powering devices that they aren’t even using! This electricity usage is referred to as vampire loads. Learn how power strips and smarter charging habits can help reduce these costs!