Maintain your home.

Don’t Do This

If you have more money than you can possibly need, here are a few ideas on how to waste some of it. But for those of you who want to save money, maybe you can use these ideas to keep some of it in your pocket.

Incandescent light bulbs use a lot of energy. So don’t change them to the compact fluorescent bulbs. You see, an old fashioned bulb will cost about $180 in electricity costs over it’s life span. These compact fluorescents will only cost about $41 for the same time period. And don’t get me started on LED bulbs. Those will only cost about $31 to run.

And here’s another one. How much electric does your TV use? Some older large flat screen TVs use a lot of electric, as much as 400 watts. Newer TVs use a lot less, as little as 100 watts, or maybe less. Now I’m not saying you should get rid of a perfectly good large screen TV to save on electric, but it could be an excuse to upgrade to a larger, 4K TV. My wife isn’t buying this argument, but it may work.

Keep using the wrong air filter in your furnace. It will make the furnace work harder, and cause it to wear out faster. And don’t bother changing the filters either.

Do you have rooms that don’t get used? If yes, shut the air vents. Not only will it keep the rooms at uneven temps, it will make the furnace work even harder since there is no place for the air to go in that set of the ductwork. And don’t go through the bother of changing the thermostat to a programmable one. Just keep the entire house heated or cooled all day long. It’s easier. Sure, I know you’re thinking that you will turn it down when you leave the home, but you know you’ll forget more often than not. And if the newer thermostats cycle more frequently, that doesn’t matter to you. And don’t think about the thermostats you can control with an app from a smart phone.

Set your hot water heater’s temperature higher than the manufacturer advises. You like hot water, if it’s too hot, just mix in a little more cold water.

Find a good handyman. All those little jobs are way too complicated for you to do, so pay someone else to do them. Don’t bother looking online for a how to video, they are just confusing.

To read part 2, visit www.55plusinmonmouth.com/blog/

Art Reiman – Realtor

732-598-7700