Having house guests over can be exciting, but it also involves many additional costs. Electricity, food, and water are among the bills that you can be expected to pay when your guests are in town. However, there are some things that you can do to save money on your water bill when you have out of town guests. They range from resolving a plumbing leak in your Jacksonville FL home to installing a new timer on your hot water heater. You may be surprised at the amount of money you can save through these habits, even after your guests leave.
Check for a potential plumbing leak in your Jacksonville FL home.
Before times of high water usage, it’s always best to check for a plumbing leak. A plumbing leak can be extremely damaging to your water bill as well as the environment, and plumbing leaks will usually steadily get worse. A single plumbing leak in Jacksonville FL could cause irreparable damage to your home as well as leaving you with an incredibly high water bill. You should always check for leaks regularly and check for leaks if you find that your water bill has inexplicably gone up. This is usually a good sign that something has gone wrong and it’s time to call an experienced plumbing company in Jacksonville.
Install a timer on your water heater.
A timer on your water heater is an excellent way to ensure that your water heater isn’t always running. This will save you significant amounts of money on your electricity bill while your guests are staying. If you do have a home that is filled to the brim, you may want to stagger your showers to ensure that there is always enough hot water available for everyone. Installing a timer on your water heater will ensure that your water heater is only running at specific times. Otherwise, you can also manually turn your water heater on and off as necessary. While this may seem difficult at first, it will quickly become a habit and save you incredible amounts of money overall.
Wash your dishes by hand.
Washing your dishes by hand is always a good idea, ecologically speaking. Washing dishes by hand uses far less water than a dishwasher, as well as less electricity. When entertaining guests, it’s understandable that you will often have an increased amount of dishes to wash. Washing them by hand will thus save you an incredible amount of money. If you don’t want to wash the dishes yourself, put your guests to work instead! Your guests can start washing dishes for you to relieve you of the burden and save you money at the same time. A less ecologically-friendly, but still affordable, solution to the plate conundrum is to use paper plates for the duration of your guest’s stay.
Only wash clothes in full loads.
Washing your clothes by full load is economically-friendly and a great way to conserve water. It can even conserve electricity if you usually use hot water for your clothes. When you wash only a half load of laundry, you waste both electricity and water. If you have a high capacity washer that’s difficult to fill, you should consider bundling your clothes up with your guests or washing the entire family worth of clothes at the same time. If you need only a single item washed at a time, consider washing it in the sink by hand rather than in the washer. This is also an excellent way to wash delicate clothes without damaging them.
When preparing for your houseguests, the first step you should always take is to check for a plumbing leak in your Jacksonville FL home. You may then want to look through your home and mentally take note of all the items that will probably cost money while they’re there. While guests are, of course, a treasure to have over, they can also be very expensive. Preparing for these expenses in advance is a great way to ensure that you aren’t staggered by a bill later on. Gas, electricity and water utilities are all areas that you’ll probably be spending more on when your guests are around. However, you should also consider entertainment costs, food costs and even travel costs when planning your budget.