Are You a Fan of Fans?

The journey to eliminate credit card debt for many involves a trip down the road of saving money, money that is otherwise wasted but, once saved, can be used to pay down the credit card debt. Yesterday we discussed the use of programmable thermostats and how having your house (in the summer) warmer for the times that you are not home can save you lots of fleeting money. Let's take that a step further.

Houses built today are fairly sterile as far a air flow is concerned. I recall opening my window on a warm summer evening and my father turning on the attic fan to draw air into the house and save us from having to turn on the air conditioner. My grandparents had little use for an air conditioner because they used fans to move the air and to keep things cooler, at least they seemed cooler.

Nowadays, we make use of the ceiling fans to keep it more comfortable even though the temperature is higher (again, we are talking about summertime). The breeze that is caused by the ceiling fan fools your body into thinking that it is cooler than it is (technically, it has to do with evaporation of water from the skin, but lets save that for a physics blog). We have become so spoiled that if the temperature isn't 71 degrees at all times, there are complaints of being too hot or too cold. My suggestion is to make use of fans (which use considerably less electricity than do air conditioners) and keep, in the summer, the temperature at a higher level than you would otherwise keep it. Your pocketbook/wallet will thank you for that.

Have a GREAT day!

Turn That Down (Off)!!

Have you ever been told (forcefully) by a parent to "TURN THAT DOWN!!" or "TURN THAT OFF!!"? You know, maybe our parents were on to something. As a young adult, there were times that I would leave a television on when I left a room, or, when it was "hot" or "cold" in the house would go and play with the thermostat to attempt to make the room more comfortable. That would drive my parents insane.

But, perhaps they were a bit wiser than I gave them credit for.

When saving money in order to eliminate your credit card debt, any way that you can save money is always a good thing. A few years ago we purchased a programmable thermostat. Previously, we would fiddle with the thermostat manually in the morning, change the temperature when we left for work (if we remembered), and then adjust it when we got home or went to bed. We were never quite consistent. For about $40 we purchased a programmable thermostat. For example, we can have the temperature (in the warm months) set to not turn the air conditioner on until the interior of the house reaches 80 degrees during the day. (WHAT?) About 30 minutes before my wife gets home, it is set to cool it down to around 74. Now you might think that is crazy, but why cool a house to 69 degrees when you aren't here during the day to enjoy it? It is money down the drain.

We know that it works because our electric company provided us with an analysis to take our annual costs for electricity and split it up into twelve equal payments. This is a popular way to even out the cost of utilities through the year. On thing that we noticed though is that our electricity usage (and cost) went down each year. It was because we weren't unnecessarily heating or cooling our home. We also don't keep it as cool in the summer or as warm in the winter, we dress appropriately.

Even a couple of degrees can make a big difference in the bottom line. After all, it is your money, why not keep more of it?

Have a great day!