August 6th, 2012 
Jessica 
In the past few months I’ve been working on lowering our utility bill. Here are some of the improvements we’ve made with the help of PG&E:
- A few months ago we qualified for the income-based CARE program which lowers our monthly bill.
- About a month ago we signed up for the Balanced Payment Plan which averages our monthly bill over the course of many months so that we won’t get any more surprises in our utility bill. (Our January bill was $369.53 due to a hot water flood in the back yard).
- We qualified for the income-based Energy Savings Assistance Program. PG&E came by the house and installed:
- 3 new light fixtures in the hallway, kitchen, and dining room
- 1 new light-sensitive light fixture on the front porch
- A water-saving fixture on the kitchen sink
- New light bulbs throughout the house
- Caulking around the window on the back door
- Insulated seal around the attic door
- Seals beneath the light-switch covers throughout the house
- Air-tight weather-stripping around the front and back door
PG&E also tested for carbon monoxide, checked the insulation in the attic, and checked the hot water heater, refrigerator, air conditioner, and furnace to see that all were up to date. They returned a few days later to turn off the pilot light to the furnace which will also save us on air conditioning and money.
The great thing about these home improvements is that not only do they make our home nicer for us, but they make it nicer for our landlord, and any other renters who live in this house after us.
What are some ways have you have found to successfully lower your utility bill?
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I don’t mind it being hot (and since Zach works outside, ANYthing indoors feels cooler to him) so we keep our thermostat at 83 most of the time and turn it off every time we’re gone from the house for most of the day. Plus, we sleep and spend a lot of time down in the finished basement, and it always stays a little cooler down there anyway. We have a fan in the basement that helps circulate that cooler air and it actually stays pretty nice. 🙂
Also, when he rebuilt the house, he replaced all the windows with energy saver ones and we always use energy saver lightbulbs. It’ll get a little more expensive once we open up to the other half of the house (once it’s finished) but I guess we’ll deal with that as it comes! 🙂 I know those upstairs rooms will be hard to keep at decent temperatures!
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