Quick Savings Tips - Week of Nov 8
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
Some quick tips this week:
Most Americans are in the midst of open enrollment season, including those on Medicare, a Marketplace (“Obamacare”) plan, and most people with private insurance. A guide to choosing benefits is well beyond the scope of this issue, but this recent WSJ guide has some good general advice. Considering your options and comparing your expected expenses under multiple plans could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars next year!
Our most recent electric and gas bills came, letting us see the savings from switching to a gas dryer. Our bills were $41 less than last October, with our home consuming 343 fewer kWh.[1] This came in extremely close to my savings estimates, and will pay off the entire cost of the gas dryer in less than two years, with a savings of almost $500/yr. Just as good, the lower electric consumption reduces our household carbon footprint by 1.5 tons per year.[2]
I couldn’t help but take umbrage at this recent piece I came across attacking LED bulbs. Yes, it’s true that occasionally an LED bulb fails earlier than its rated lifespan. But with a payback period of a month or less, and 85% less electric consumption than incandescents (and about 35% less than CFLs), LEDs are still an incredible deal. The single highest-return home efficiency investment you can make, both for the environment and your wallet, is to change out all your household bulbs for LEDs. Shockingly, over 60% of general household lighting and over 80% of all household decorative/fancy lighting (chandelier bulbs, etc) are still non-LED. Tell your friends!
And now…Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
Are We on the Verge of Chatting with Whales? I sure hope so.
And, down with daylight savings time! We’re making progress—19 states have now enacted legislation that would eliminate changing the clocks every six months (we’d simply stay on daylight savings time year-round), and are only waiting for Congress to act to authorize the change.
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.
[1] Incidentally, despite switching to a gas dryer, our household gas usage also declined slightly. This was likely because we recently installed a new (and much more efficient) furnace.
[2] Using the US average carbon emissions per kWh. Of course, each state varies.