Tag: electricity

by James Adam

How To Choose The Right Hot Water Tank For Your Budget


Homes

Choosing a hot water tank can be tough. Most of us don’t know that much about our water heaters, and don’t think about them until it’s too late. So if your hot water tank has failed, or you think that it may be nearing the end of its service life, you may be wondering how to choose a new one.

Replacing a hot water tank can be a big financial investment, which is why we recommend that you take your time, and do your own research to purchase a hot water tank that offers low running costs, a great warranty, and plentiful capacity for your family.

Not sure how to get started? Here’s a guide that’s sure to help. 

  1. Calculate The Proper Capacity For Your Home

First, you’ll want to consider what capacity you actually need for your home. If your home has an oversized (or undersized) hot water heater, you may be paying more than you need to on your water heating bills.

So, how should you calculate the capacity that you and your family need? If you live with one other person in a small condo or home, you may need a smaller, 23-36 gallon tank. However, if you live in a larger house with 3-5 family members, you may need a tank with a 46-56 gallon capacity.

This calculator from Energy.gov can help you calculate the proper capacity for your water heater. Smaller heaters are typically cheaper, and cost less to run, while larger heaters are more expensive, but can deliver more heated water on-demand.

  1. Look At Running Costs – Not Just Purchase Costs

You may be getting sticker shock when shopping for a hot water tank – but don’t just think about the initial purchase price of a hot water heater.

Energy efficiency is absolutely critical for your hot water tank. Even if you spend a bit more money for a more efficient, well-insulated tank, your investment will pay off, in the long run.

Water heating consumes about 20% of the power usage for most households. This means it’s only behind the HVAC system when it comes to year-round power usage.

If you spend a bit of extra money on a highly-efficient water heater, you can save significantly on your gas or electric bill each month. And, given that most hot water tanks have an expected lifespan of 12+ years, this adds up.

For the sake of example, let’s say that your old hot water heater used $40 of energy per month, and you’ve purchased a model that’s 10% more efficient. Your bill will drop to $36 per month. Multiply that by the service life of the unit, and that’s a savings of $576.

Real-life efficiency ratings vary, of course, but the same principle applies. By spending a little bit more on a more efficient hot water tank, you can save a lot of money in the long run.

  1. Decide Between Electricity And Gas

Usually, the least expensive option when shopping for a hot water tank is to buy a tank that uses the same fuel source as your old tank.

That is to say, it will usually be cheaper to hook up a new electric hot water tank than it would be to switch to gas – because there would be no additional labor required to run new gas lines, and so on.

However, this is not always the case. You may want to switch between gas and electric, depending on the cost of power and gas in your area. In some cases, the cost of natural gas may be much higher than electricity, making it worth spending the extra money to install a gas model. The opposite may also be true, and it could be wise to switch to an electric unit.

Gas models are also slightly more efficient than electric hot water tanks, so this may be another factor to consider if you’re thinking about switching. Think through your finances and utility costs, and you’ll be able to decide which option is right for you.

Consider These Three Factors When Shopping For A Tank!

By choosing a properly-sized tank, focusing on energy efficiency, and opting for a gas or electric unit, depending on your utility costs, you can save quite a bit of money when installing a new hot water tank. So follow these tips now, and you’re sure to find a unit that’s right for your finances


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by Incredible Planet Staff

8 Useful Cost Saving Ideas for Small Businesses


Business

Managing a small business can be a tricky thing. One of the challenges that these enterprises face is minimizing the expenses of the operations. This is so that the business can have savings that it could use later on for expansion or other emergencies. These are some tips that will help your small business to do cost saving:

  1. Offer “Telecommuting Days” For Employees

With the advances in telecommunications and computer infrastructure, telecommuting is easier than ever for employees. This opens an opportunity for small businesses to cut costs. There will lower electricity and water usage, decreased travel costs and lesser need for a big office for the business.

Telecommuting is also beneficial for employees. This means they no longer have to wake up too early to go to the office every day. They will also spend less time commuting and traveling, which they can devote instead to other personal pursuits.

However, telecommuting is not yet too known by many. It has a large cost-cutting and productivity-improving potential that only a few companies have realized. The fact that telecommuting employees in the United States rose from 103 percent from 2005 to 2014 means that telecommuting is the future.

  1. Consider Buying Used Equipment

No one expects the business to buy everything brand new. If you could not afford it, consider buying those that have already been used. This is usually what most small companies do for storage equipment, vehicles, office furniture and even personal technology. Just make sure that you are eagle-eyed about any possible defect before you buy the item.

  1. Go Green

Being environmentally-friendly is not just your civic responsibility. It also gives you the chance to cut back on some costs. This is especially true for electricity matters. Electronic gadgets and other electrical devices that have been certified to be energy-efficient can save you as much as three-quarters of your power costs.

Other ways your company can go green is to limit the use of paper and using environmentally-friendly materials and supplies in the office.

  1. Adopt A Debit Card Payroll System
credit card 1583534 640
credit card 1583534 640

While there are still instances when checks are still needed, a debit card payment system is the best option right now for salaries. Not only is it efficient, it also lessens the burden on the administrative team. It also lessens the need to print checks as everything can be done electronically. Plus, this payroll system also has a decreased risk of fraud.

  1. Check Your Healthcare Offerings

If you want your small business to have savings, you need to make sensible changes to the healthcare arrangement. Healthcare is important, of course, as employees would want their company to take care of that. This is why canceling coverage should never be an option. One thing the business can do is to get tax-advantaged health savings account for their employees. This gets the control of the healthcare options on the employee’s court.

  1. Delegate Some Tasks To Micro-Contractors

Micro-contracting is perfect for employers who have small tasks that need to be done but do not want to hire a full-time employee for it. You can just hire a freelancer who will go on a micro-contracting arrangement with you. Once hired, you can delegate the tasks easily to them online.

  1. Come Up With An Energy Saving Plan

The monthly electric costs may seem small but for a new enterprise, it can already represent a large chunk of the spending of the business. This is why the company should implement an energy saving plan that will cut down electricity costs without adversely affecting the operations and productivity.

There are many ways that this can be done. You can start with the heating and air conditioning facilities in your office. Since you need to make sure customers, clients and employees are comfortable in the office, you cannot completely let go of your HVAC unit. One solution is to use a programmable or smart thermostat for the indoor climate control needs of the space.

You also need to think about how to maximize the insulation in the office. For example, double-pane windows and light-blocking curtains and blinds are effective in limiting the heat that enters the building through the window.

Also, do not forget to unplug appliances, equipment, and machinery if they are not used.

  1. Adopt Flexible Packaging

If your business is in some kind of manufacturing business especially food manufacturing, adopting flexible packaging can be a great way to save big from product packaging. Due to its lightweight and low cost of packaging materials, flexible packaging is much more affordable than other packaging options available to companies. Additionally, stand up pouch printing allows companies to do their branding and advertising much more effectively.  Short run flexible packaging is good for storage and transportation as well, making cost of both these activities low as well. If you do not want to invest big money installing all the machinery and equipment of adopting flexible packaging, outsourcing the company packaging to a professional flexible packaging provider can be a good idea.

by Incredible Planet Staff

5 Tips for a Sustainable Lifestyle & Ethical Living


Lifestyle

The impact of global warming is becoming very difficult to ignore. With the ice caps melting, sea level rising, a whole array of species slowly dying out, and the climate constantly shifting and causing natural disasters, it is no longer just a distant problem that might affect someone, some day far into the future.

It’s happening right now, it’s affecting us, and it’s going to make sure that our children have a much poorer quality of life than we’ve had. And global warming is just one of many issues that plague a modern man: overpopulation, the loss of biodiversity, water scarcity, deforestation, the issues with waste disposal are slowly threatening to spiral out of control.

But what can be done about it? Can a single person even contribute in a significant way? Absolutely! Let’s discuss how.

Go vegan

Contrary to popular belief veganism is not, in fact, only about saving animals. The biggest benefit of going vegan (besides better health), is saving the environment. It takes about 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, and forests and fields are bulldozed every day to make more room for farmed animals, thus using up about 30% of the Earth’s landmass. In comparison, 1 pound of wheat takes 25 gallons to produce.

Farm animals also produce a lot of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming – methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide. And here’s the thing: you don’t have to make a complete switch. Simply reducing your meat intake by at least a fraction helps, and your path to veganism can, and should, be done over a certain period of time.

Wear sustainable clothing

Clothing, along with gadgets, cars, and beauty products, is one of the biggest indicators of an increasingly consumerist culture that demands that we give into companies and push ourselves to waste money, time, and frankly space, to own more and more things that we don’t really need. Most of those companies also have very unethical supply chains and their factory workers live in extremely poor conditions. It kind of kills the joy of owning a brand new pretty sweater once you know that people who made it are underpaid, overworked, and treated like they are subhuman (child labour is also a huge issue).

What’s the solution? There are several. Secondhand clothing, for example, is a great option, or simply brands that vow to engage in ethical production and distribution. Another fantastic option is sustainable bamboo clothing because the fabric made from bamboo has some awesome properties – it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, it’s breathable, it’s soft, it’s biodegradable, and has some antibacterial properties. Bamboo also requires a lot less water and pesticides to grow.

Make little changes to reduce your carbon footprint

From riding a bike to work to taking shorter showers and turning off the lights as soon as you leave the room. Small changes can make a huge difference, so it’s worth making an effort as it’s not even that time-consuming. While not everyone can afford to install solar panels and drive a hybrid car, all of us can do small things to live more sustainably.

Minimize waste

By this, we mean to minimize the use of disposables (wet wipes, kitchen towels, plastic razors), and plastic containers. Avoid ordering ordering coffee at Starbucks by bringing your own coffee from home in reusable coffee cups, buying tiny bottles of food, beauty products, and hygiene items so you would contribute to minimizing plastic waste. Try not to waste food either, because about one-third of all food produced ends up being disposed, spoiled, or squandered in some way.

Start the discussion

One of the most shocking things is the fact that about two-thirds of global warming can be contributed to only 90 big companies who waste insane amount of resources to keep running. How, then, can a single person even begin to make a change? Will using LED light bulbs really make any difference? Yes! Absolutely, yes!

It’s not just about you living more sustainably, it’s about starting the discussion on environmental issues, it’s about changing mindsets and demanding better from those that are in power. Show companies that you don’t want products that were made unethically, show them that you will do no business with someone who is too irresponsible, arrogant, and selfish to care about the impact they make on the environment and see you as anything other than a foolish consumer. Hit them where it hurts – their wallets. That is how you make a change.

You’re the one with power here, and making a decision to live a better life is liberating. We encourage you to try these tips, get creative and come up with your own solutions. Let’s make this world a better place.