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Tri-Valley Tips: Saving Money the DIY Way

This Old House recently put together an article containing 50 Nifty Tricks for Big DIY Savings.  There are great tips in this article that are especially useful and poignant right now when everyone around the Tri-Valley is looking to shave costs and be smart about money.  From shortening your dryer-vent hose to signing up for your utility’s time-of-use plan, this article really does cover the gamut of ways to save money around your home.

If you read the comments, and there are many (both useful and ridiculous), there are some out there in the blogosphere that disagree with some of This Old House’s recommended “tricks.”  As I read through the comments, two of the “tricks” stuck out in my mind and I wanted to do a little more research on them.

1.  This Old House Trick #7 - Turn Down the Thermostat on Your Water Heater

The DIY article recommends turning down your water heater thermostat to 120 or even 110 degrees. One “commentor” mentions that they had heard that you should never set your water heater temperature to below 130 degrees to prevent bacterial growth, such as Legionnare’s disease. I was curious, so I researched online and came across a site called naturalhandyman that had a lot of interesting information on this topic.  According to the site, the US Department of Energy has espoused that a temperature of 120 degrees at the tap is adequate for most household chores with a minimal danger of scalding and maximal energy efficiency. Naturalhandyman.com points out that the 120 degree temperature recommendation is at the tap and that the water heater tank temperature should be set at 130 degrees.  This site has other information about water heaters of all sorts and is very interesting reading. 

2.  This Old House Trick #9 - Replace Central-Air-Conditioning Filters

I have heard many times that a money-saving tip is to replace your air conditioning filters often, even once a month. And This Old House reports that a money-saving trick is to replace them once a month in the summer months.  Then, I remembered reading a supremely interesting article by Dr. Mehmet Oz in an issue of Esquire that, among other topics, stated that cleaning your home’s air filters too frequently could “spread toxins.”  His recommendation on this topic and other thought-provoking ideas are laid out in his article, Better Man 2008: Retool, Reboot, Rebuild.  Just more information to digest and ponder in our life’s quest of smart choices and myriad decisions.

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