We went over in our last two articles the costs, fees, and taxes a homeowner should expect. After that, we covered tax deductions for homeowners. But that does not include ways to save money on your bills, repairs, and general costs. When people imagine making upgrades to their home, especially ones that are supposed to save money, we initially expect that it isn’t going to be cheap. But especially on home upgrades that you can avoid contractors and do yourself, the cost of the parts is normally fairly cheap.
Utility Cost Savings
Running the A/C, especially in the summer in the south, is not exactly cheap. With rising electricity costs in some areas, it has become more important than ever to take measures to avoid the high premiums. The first and simplest way to avoid having to run the A/C constantly is to use fans as often as possible, and more so keeping your thermostat at a steady level, and making sure you replace your air filters every couple months.
Another way to lower A/C costs is to reduce the amount of sunlight and heat entering the house. The most basic way to do that would be to simply put up curtains, especially in windows blocked by the sun. This blocks the heat and allows the curtains to deflect some of it, and absorb it. The more thorough option for this is to purchase window tint. Window tint has been proven as an effective way to block UV rays from entering and heating up your home. Window tint is extremely cheap for how much money you will save. The final thing is keeping in the cold air you do have inside of your home. This is accomplished by checking your weather stripping. For a dozen dollars you can buy weather stripping to put in all of your windows and doors. This combined with making sure you put in your window tint and curtains especially on east and west facing windows. Insulating your attic, in the same vein as weather-stripping, keeps heat or cold air in when you are paying for heating or cooling.
A proven way to save water is to spend several dollars purchasing new faucets and shower heads. Especially if you have leaky faucets and leaky showerheads, can result in saving a couple hundred a month. Water is another utility that has risen over time, and by reducing showerheads that spray too much water, and faucets that leak, you will undoubtedly save money.
Other miscellaneous changes start with hanging out your laundry to dry when you have the time. If you have a shirt that needs to dry quickly, obviously you cannot afford to take the time to hang it out to dry. But the dryer costs a lot of electricity. And something people don’t think about, is that the dryer also heats up the house. Keeping washer/dryers behind closed doors also insulates the heat.
These will all combine to save you several hundred a month. If you’re looking for real estate in San Marcos or the surrounding areas, contact The Damron Group REALTORS® today to discuss your needs, we’d love to hear from you!
