How many of us started our adult lives knowing the amount of money to budget toward our monthly cost of living? Not many, I suspect. If you were like me, you might have asked your parents and older friends what they paid for "utilities" (energy, sewage, water, recycling, etc.), rent/mortgage, and other miscellaneous costs, but you didn't realize what your out-of-pocket costs were like until you saw your savings depleted for deposits toward phone, apartment, insurance and utility usage, not to mention that first down payment for an automobile or later for a home mortgage.
As the months went by, you got a decent idea what your future monthly payments would be like, especially annual utility costs that cycled from season-to-season. Depending on your household and number of roommates (including friends, spouses, significant others, siblings, children and/or extended family), you pooled resources to pay bills, assuming that whatever was used the month before was going to be used in the same amount the next year.
But is that true?
In some parts of the world, droughts and water restrictions have driven the cost of water through the roof, forcing us to make changes to our water usage habits such as no more watering patches of lawn (brown is the new green) or washing the shaggy dog (shabby chic is still in, isn't it?).
What about our energy usage?
According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy and EPA, the following shows the average annual energy usage of a typical household in 2001:
- 49%, Heating and Cooling
- 13%, Water Heater
- 10%, Lighting
- 8%, Other (household products, including stoves, ovens, microwaves, and small appliances like coffee makers and dehumidifiers)
- 7%, Electronics
- 6%, Clothes Washer & Dryer
- 5%, Refrigerator
- 2%, Dishwasher
What does that mean, exactly?
Well, if you're paying an average of $500 per month for energy usage, then converting all of your lights to high-efficiency CFL bulbs or LED fixtures, reducing monthly lighting costs by 75% and 90%, respectively, you'll save $37.50/month with all CFL light bulbs or $45/month with all LED light fixtures. A decent monthly savings.
But is that enough to convince us to pay the higher initial costs of the CFL bulbs or LED light fixtures versus conventional incandescent bulbs? Tough call. Personally, my wife and I have switched out light bulbs from incandescent to CFL as the incandescent ones burn out. That way, we don't waste the incandescent light bulbs we bought. [I guess we could just remove the incandescent bulbs and store them as backups but we'd rather use them up and not worry about keeping track of the old bulbs. As you can see, I'd like to say we're an energy-efficient household but even as informed and educated as we are about the importance of reducing energy, we aren't true converts to the "cause" but we are making changes.]
More importantly, wouldn't reducing the other two items on the annual energy usage list make more sense economically on both the macroeconomic scale (you know, the part where experts say, "If everyone switched to GenX superefficient technology, we could power the whole Eastern seaboard for a year on just one flashlight!") and the average household scale (the one we really only care about)? The answer, of course, is yes.
But how do we remove or reduce that 62% of our monthly energy bill? In many cases, such as flats or apartment buildings, you can't remove or change the heating or cooling system yourself so your only choice is personal reduction. Say, like turning down the thermostat at night and throwing an extra blanket on the bed. If you own your home, you should consider switching to highly efficient heating / cooling systems like heat pumps (in temperate climates) or solar water heaters.
The important thing to keep in mind is the fact that unlike other bills that don't vary from month to month (car payments, housing rent, etc.), you have control over your monthly energy usage. And since you have control, it's important to know where to make the most impact with your changes. Washing dishes by hand versus using a dishwasher is not going to save you a lot of money (assuming you already have or own a dishwasher), because in both cases you'll use hot water and often you'll use more hot water washing dishes by hand. If your monthly usage is similar to the average household, even eliminating dishwashing altogether will only save you 2% of your $500 bill (or $10). In other words, don't tell your boyfriend that taking you out to eat is going to save him money because you won't have to wash dishes. Unless, of course, it's Valentine's Day or your birthday – in that case, he probably won't want to dispute the facts. ;^)
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