More Savings For You Today 18/3/07
By kathy77
@kathy77 (7486)
Australia
March 17, 2007 12:37pm CST
Fill your freezer with milk cartons
Deep Freezes work more efficiently if over half full - less electricity to keep goods frozen. Quite often I find mine close to empty so I have taken to filling empty plastic milk bottles 3/4 full of water and using them to make up the volume. A bonus is that when I go camping or picnicking, I have plenty of ready ice blocks for my esky that cost nothing and last longer than bought ice!
Save with cold washing
Save up to $135 if you have an electric hot water system. Next time you go to do a hot wash, ask yourself if you really need to use hot water. If you had a 5 kg top loading machine and washed just one load of washing a day with cold water, you can save around 1340 kilowatt hours of electricity in one year. This equals a saving of around $135 a year
1 person likes this
5 responses
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
17 Mar 07
These are both great tips, I did however know them but learned something some may not realize with the first one. If you hahve softened water the ice will not last as long. Softened water contains 'salt' and that causes the ice to melt faster - that's why the store bought ice melts faster, it is produced that way so the consumer has to purchase more. I never buy ice since I learned that fact.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
18 Mar 07
I never knew that about shop bought ice was produced that way so it melts faster. Thanks for that little gem.
Anyway, after I read Kathy's idea, I'll certainly not be buying any more ice from the store when I have my own home-made stuff at home in my own freezer!
@GardenGerty (157674)
• United States
17 Mar 07
These are tips I use all of the time. Hard to convince hubby about the washer, though. I like to wash in cold, then hang in the sunshine. The sunshine also kills germs. I love the fresh smell. I do not seem to have the time now as much as I used to. I also freeze big open topped plastic containers full of ice and put ice blocks in the dogs' water dishes in the summer. I know they find it refresshing.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
18 Mar 07
Where do you get all these ideas from Kathy? They are so simple yet practical. (Simple ideas are always the best).
We have two freezers and the one in the garage is often quite empty, so therefore uses more power to keep it going, so I am going to use your idea with the milk cartons. Also, if you are going camping or just to the beach, you have a supply of home-made ice to take with you. Cool!
On the subject of doing cold laundry washes - I have done this for years, and only use the hot water every blue moon. A cold water wash still gets clothes clean.
