Thrifty Tips For Daylight Savings

We all know that Day light savings is a time to set your clocks forward or back one hour depending on whether it's spring or fall.  Most of us have also gotten the message we should change the batteries in our smoke detectors at that time too.

I wanted to share a few simple tips that you can do on Day light savings day that will save you money:

1) Save those batteries!  So, you've put in new batteries in your smoke detectors, but the ones you took out are still good! Why toss them out just because you pulled them from the smoke detectors?  Put them in a ziplock bag marked as old smoke detector batteries and use them the next time you need batteries in a non emergency gadget, like your childs game console, or remote. (I know for some people, the t.v. remote IS an emergency gadget!)

2) Change the rotation of your ceiling fan blades:  About.com tells us: We all know ceiling fans feel great in the summer. But did you know using your ceiling fan in the winter months can also save money on your energy bill. 

A ceiling fan uses 5% less energy than an air conditioner. Now that may not seem like much, but using your ceiling fan can reduce your energy bills between 10 and 40%.

Here's how it works: In the winter, your blades should be moving clockwise. This pulls the air from the floor level, mixing it with the warmer air near the ceiling. The fan then pushes that warmer air down the walls and back toward the floor.

A ceiling fan rotating in the correct direction reduces your heater's workload. It also saves you money when the electric bill arrives in your mailbox.

3) Winterize  those windows! A majority of our heat loss is through our windows. On daylight savings weekend, caulk around the outside edges of the window sill.  Reducing heat loss at night can be achieved by increasing your window coverings, heavier curtains, and clear plastic window film can help reduce heat loss.

4) Cut off or adjust the automatic timers on any kitchen, bath, or laundry ventilation fans.  These fans can suck a lot of the heat from our homes when the automatic timers are left on to long.  Many  newer homes have these automatic times set for too many times a day and left on too long. Adjust them to twice a day or less during the winter to reduce unnecessary heat loss.

5) Change filters:  furnace filters and also don't forget your refrigerator water filter (if you have one).  It's a great time to change those filters, and only takes a minute or two.

I didn't want to overwhelm you with too many quick tips for saving money on Daylight savings weekend, but there a lot of other things you can do.

What do you do to save money or winterize your home?

This was shared here:
http://frugallysustainable.com/none
http://www.aruraljournal.com/2012/11/rural-thursday-41-homemade-tostadas.html
http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/11/farm-girl-blog-fest-7.html