How you can save on utility bills in 2020

I’m choosing a new building, should I already think about utility bills?

It’s worth it, because you can reduce costs even before you buy an apartment. To do this, you just need to choose the right LCD. It often happens in practice that the price of an apartment seems very attractive, but the developer can establish his own management company with an increased cost of maintenance.

So, how to reduce utility bills:

1. First of all, read the reviews of residents who already live in the new building from the developer from whom you are going to buy an apartment.
2. Choose an energy efficient project. It involves the introduction of a number of innovative technologies to reduce heat loss in the building
   . At the same time, savings on utility bills reach approximately 36%.
3. Pay attention to how heat is supplied to the apartment. That is, is individual energy consumption taken into account, is it possible to adjust the temperature regime.

These 3 details will help you understand how the developer approaches the problems of excessive energy consumption.

To reduce utility bills, you need to pay attention to how the developer approaches the problems of excessive consumption of energy resources.

Payment for housing and communal services

Payment for housing and communal services is considered a necessary monthly expense.

The amount of rent increases not only with the onset of the heating season, but also annually, after the July increase in utility prices.

Therefore, the question of how to reduce resource costs is relevant for all segments of the population.

You can act logically - consume less electricity, stop washing dishes with hot water and taking a bath, discharge people not living in the apartment, etc.

There are many ways to save on utility bills legally, without using magnets on meters and other scams.

The amount of utilities used is indicated on the receipt form, which is sent monthly to property owners.

Meter readings must be entered into the payment slip to make calculations for the current month.

And the first way to save on rent is to pay the entire amount within the specified time frame, that is, no later than the 10th of each month.

If there is a delay, penalties will be charged for additional and completely unnecessary expenses.

Payment Methods

Russia has introduced several methods of paying for utility services:

Each of the listed methods has both advantages and disadvantages. They all have one thing in common - a commission for making a payment.

Video: how to save on utility bills

In this case, you can save money using a trial method, registering on different sites and contacting several banks.

Reflection in the law

The Housing Code regulates the rules for calculating and paying rent:

Most importantly, the law provides for liability for incorrect recording of meter data.

It is prohibited to indicate the incorrect amount of resources used, remove the seal and install magnets.

If a violation is detected, a fine will be imposed on the user and the meters may be confiscated with subsequent payment according to the standards.

What payments on a receipt can I refuse?

If you carefully study the receipt, there will be services that you don’t need to involve your neighbors to refuse. Such services include, for example, TV antenna, radio and public address. In total, you can overpay about 4,000 rubles in 12 months.

To refuse radio and notification, you need to come to the public services center, write an application and pay 60 rubles. You must have an identity document with you.

To turn off the TV antenna, just contact and write a statement about refusal of the service. Have your passport and an extract from the Unified State Register with you

. This document can be replaced by a copy of the state registration certificate of the right.

If you submit these documents before the 20th day of the current month, the next receipt will not include these services.

Do water meters help you save on bills?

Yes, after installing meters, savings can be up to 50% of the usual payment. It should be noted that many new buildings already have individual utility metering devices

.
In their absence, water consumption will be calculated according to general standards. For example, you will have to pay more than 500 rubles per month for water consumption
.
If a meter is installed, this amount will be about 350 rubles for 20 cubic meters of cold water. To install the meter, you must contact the management company and be sure to ensure that the device is sealed after installation
. In each receipt, indicate the current readings of the device.

What it is

Before reviewing the methods available to the population, it is necessary to clarify what the total amount of rent consists of. After all, most residents do not even know what they are forced to pay for every month and where, in addition to the established tariffs, the numbers in the receipt come from.

The total amount is obtained by adding two main payments:

• for housing services;
• for utilities.

The first point accounts for from 18 to 27% of the full payment.

The list of housing services provided by public utilities to the population includes:

• major home renovation;
• ongoing repair work;
• house management expenses;
• cleaning the home and surrounding areas;
• maintenance and repair of garbage chutes, elevators, power supply systems;
• service work on the sewer system and water supply;
• maintenance of a centralized heating system.

Tariffs for all these services are determined by the association of owners of residential properties by prior agreement with the management company servicing a particular building. These tariffs are rather advisory rather than mandatory. If there are differences of opinion at a meeting of owners, the right to set tariffs passes to the administrative authorities of that locality.

The second section, related to payment of utilities, accounts for 71 to 80% of the final payment.

It is formed by paying for:

• electricity;
• gas supply;
• heating;
• hot and cold water;
• sewerage

You can see that this is the main expense item in generating a payment receipt. In this case, the tariff schedule is developed and established by the Ministry of Housing, Communal Services and Energy. The volume of consumed resources is determined using metering devices - meters. In their absence, current standards are taken into account when calculating the volume.

There are many more items in the list of services provided by housing and communal services authorities. These are radio, television, intercom systems and other benefits. But few people know about this and use the entire list. Citizens have the right to demand the provision of one or another service from public utilities. After all, the payments they issue are much greater than the benefits that the average Russian ultimately receives.

Features of paying rent are discussed in the article: payment of rent. Is it possible to pay rent online? Find the answer on this page.

Installation of multi-tariff electricity meters

Installing a two- or three-tariff meter will save money

There are one-, two- and three-tariff meters. In the first case, the device multiplies the consumed kilowatts by the standard tariff

.
In the second and third, the device takes into account the time of day of electricity use. Please note that during the day the cost of electricity for two-tariff devices will be higher than for a regular single-tariff device
. A two-tariff meter will allow you to save money if you leave for work early in the morning and return late in the evening.

Recalculation after vacation

This action is appropriate if there are no metering devices in the house. To receive a recalculation, you must provide documents confirming your absence - tickets, checks from the hotel, etc.

. d. It is also worth providing a statement explaining why it is impossible to install metering devices in the apartment.

This measure often allows you to save more than all the energy-saving light bulbs installed in the apartment. That is, how to save money... Just don’t pay too much.

So-called “double receipts” are still not uncommon. This is when they try to charge you twice for the same service or services. The calculation is that many citizens pay without looking and do not delve into the details at all

.

Another typical scam is when the payment invoice overstates the volume of services consumed. Say, extra cubic meters of water are attributed

.
More often this is done when meters are not installed and it is more difficult to figure out why so many rubles have flowed in. But other options are also possible - again, counting on the inattention of citizens
.

If you have any doubts, the first authority you should contact for clarification is the organization that issues you the payment. If they did not give a clear answer there, or did not give any answer at all, you can complain to the State Housing Inspectorate - this organization has the right to check the correctness of the accrual of housing and communal services

.

It is better to contact all authorities in writing - so that one copy of the application (with a note that it was accepted) remains with you.

An important point: if it turns out that you were actually cheated, you now not only have the right to demand a recalculation. The management organization is also obliged to pay you a fine - in the amount of 50% of the excessively accrued amount.

“This money will be deducted from the payment for the next month,” explains Svetlana Razvorotneva, executive director of Housing and Communal Services Control.

In today's article, I will give you 7 tips on how to save on utility bills and at the same time receive significant savings on your own funds without paying extra.

Apart from saving money, you will also learn some tricks on how to wisely use resources such as electricity, water and others.

How to pay less for utilities

Is it possible to save money on housing and communal services?

Yes, with a few simple steps you can significantly reduce your utility costs. For example, install meters, use energy-saving lamps, check what services you pay for without actually receiving them.

Apply for a subsidy

If you are a citizen of Russia, Belarus or Kyrgyzstan, you have permanent registration in Moscow and more than 10% of your family’s total income goes to pay for housing and communal services, and the income itself does not exceed the level established for receiving a subsidy, you can qualify for compensation for part of your expenses for housing and communal services . You can find out more about how to receive a subsidy for housing and communal services in our instructions.

You can also get advice, clarify the list of required documents and submit documents to receive a subsidy at.

Complete the recalculation

If it is technically impossible to install meters in your apartment and you have been away for more than five full days, you can request a recalculation of your utility bills from or from your management company, depending on who sends you the utility bill. To recalculate you will need:

• an inspection report confirming that meters cannot be installed in your apartment;
• a document confirming your absence;
• a statement that you can write at an appointment with or at your management company.

You can read more about how to make a recalculation in our instructions.

Install counters

• water meters will allow you to pay only for the water you used, and, for example, not pay for hot water when it is turned off in the summer to prevent pipes;
• Make sure you have a multi-tariff electricity meter. With it, you will be able to pay for electricity at reduced rates during the half-peak zone (from 10:00 to 17:00; 21:00–23:00) and night zone (from 23:00 to 07:00);
• General house heat meters should be installed in all residential buildings, if technically possible. If, in addition to such a meter, you install regulators on the radiators in the apartment, then in winter you will be able to set a comfortable temperature in the apartment not with the help of an open window, but with the help of these regulators, thus saving heat. Do not cover radiators with screens, furniture, or thick curtains so that heat can spread unhindered in the room. Do not leave windows and doors in hallways open. The more heat loss in your home is reduced, the less you will pay. Check with your management company about the possibility of installing regulators. You can find her contacts on the Moscow House portal.

You can learn how to install and register meters from our instructions.

Turn off the radio

If the radio point does not work in your apartment, but is indicated in the receipt for payment of housing and communal services, you can refuse to pay for this service by submitting an application to turn off the radio point.

If you receive a single payment document (UPD):

• submit an application to turn off the radio point in .

If instead of the EPD you receive another receipt for housing and communal services:

• contact the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Broadcasting and Warning Networks”;
• Check with your management company about the possibility of submitting an application. You can find her contacts on the Moscow House portal.

Attach to the application a receipt for disconnecting the radio point, a certificate from the absence of debt. Be sure to take your passport with you.

Turn off the shared TV antenna

If you pay for cable or satellite TV, or don't watch TV at all, you don't have to pay for a community TV antenna. To do this, check with the management company who is the provider of these services for you and write an application; be sure to take your passport with you. You can find the contacts of your management company on the Moscow House portal.

Turn off your home phone

If you decide to give up your home telephone, you can write a statement and terminate the contract at any MGTS sales and service center. The company recommends contacting an office specializing in termination of contracts, located near the Timiryazevskaya metro station at the address: Yablochkova Street, building 19a.

Don't forget to take your passport with you and check if you have debt for your home phone. If there are unspent funds in your account, MGTS will return them to the details you provided within 30 days after termination of the agreement.

Is your management company honest?

Always check the receipt your property management company sends you before paying. It is possible that unscrupulous managers include extra payments in the payment bill or count more utilities than you have in the basement according to the meters.

Remember that this obviously includes:

• replacement of risers
• maintenance and timely replacement of plumbing equipment at home
• cleaning common areas
• landscaping and landscaping of the local area

Tips on how to save on utility bills include more active actions.

Ways to get benefits and various types of concessions to pay for utilities

How to pay less for housing and communal services? As mentioned earlier, you can get benefits and other concessions to pay for utility bills in a number of situations.

Today, legislation allows you to reduce the cost of utilities for an apartment in the following ways:

• First of all, install items to account for the resources coming into your home (electricity, water, gas, etc.). Often, housing management companies (HMCs) round them up when calculating monthly bills, as a result of which citizens have to overpay for utilities. By installing ordinary meters, you can not only control the integrity of the activities of the ZhK, but also save up to 30% on payments.
• Secondly, when leaving the apartment somewhere for a long period of time (more than 1-2 weeks), be sure to notify your BUG about this before leaving or after. You can use a travel document, an extract from a sanatorium, hotel bills and similar papers for this purpose. ZHUK is obliged to recalculate for some services that were not used by you at the time of departure. As a rule, recalculation allows you to save up to 20% on utility bills.
• Third, be sure to analyze your payment receipts for these services. If there are any services there that you do not use or do not provide, ask ZhUK to exclude them from the list starting next month. Very often, management organizations include in the list of described services unnecessary and unused radio points or cleaning of entrances, which brings them considerable profit, which in fact is made out of thin air. By eliminating unused or not provided services, it becomes possible to save up to 30% on utility bills.
• Fourth, try to get benefits or subsidies for utility bills. The list of persons who can count on this is quite wide. The most common benefits for utilities are:

Turn off everything you don't use

One of the simplest options on what you can really save on. Some people's bills include payment for radio points, which they often had before, especially in older housing stock.

If you do not use it, disable this service by writing a statement through the MFC. Also, many people pay for a common house antenna

. But if your Internet provider provides IP television services, which is included in the monthly payment, then you can safely refuse to pay for the antenna.

If you do not use a landline phone, but have completely switched to the services of cellular operators, then refusing this payment can make your housing and communal services payments easier.

Meters are the key to lower payments

If you still don’t know how to save on utility bills, then remember if you have meters. Many people still pay for far more services than they actually consume.

. So those who have not installed water meters sometimes pay 10 times more than they would have, taking into account actual consumption.

For those who do not have water meters, consider the service to be standard according to the average values ​​for the home; savings with meters can be up to 75-80%.

Subsidies

Benefited categories of the population may end up receiving a reduced amount on their pay stub, but with a subsidy the approach is completely different. If a family spends more than a specific percentage of total income on bills, it is entitled to financial support from the state. In this case, the required amount is received directly into your hands, and not through the provision of a discount. At the same time, the purpose of the money is not indicated: you can spend it on housing and communal services payments or other needs.

The right to apply for financial support from the state is fixed in Article 159 of the Housing Code. In this case, you should make an appointment with the authorities that accept housing and communal services payments.

Attention! Not only homeowners, but also tenants can apply for a subsidy.

The specific conditions for providing financial assistance depend on local authorities. Factors that influence the allocation of subsidies: regional standards for living space, local standards for utility bills, the specified share of expenses from the total family income.

Replace incandescent bulbs with LED or energy-saving ones

LEDs are modern assistants for those who like to save money without losing quality of life. Firstly, LED lamps consume up to 80% less electricity compared to conventional incandescent lamps.

Secondly, they are practically eternal, because they burn out much less often. Remember how many times a year you changed ordinary Soviet light bulbs?

Thirdly, LED lamps are environmentally friendly, because their production and therefore their composition do not contain mercury.

How to SAVE on housing and communal services (HCS). We reduce utility bills and rent. Lifehacks

Paying utility bills takes away more and more money from residents of multi-storey buildings every year. This situation is associated with the depletion of natural resources that provide us with heat, light and running water.

.
However, not everyone can survive in such conditions, so people who want to learn how to save on housing and communal services have long begun to use useful advice from experts
. There are several proven and effective methods for maintaining a family budget that will be very easy to test in practice.

How to pay less for housing and communal services

The issue of the low quality of provided public services is still relevant. The amounts that consumers are required to pay every month turn out to be a heavy burden for many citizens.

How can we reduce the flow of funds allocated to this area? How to reduce the price for “yellow-brown” water supplied to housing, which consumers observe in their taps, unheated and sometimes cold radiators in the winter, “cleanliness” in the entrances, which is present only in words?

The first method is through benefits

Have you ever wondered how many of your family members with whom you live in the same living space belong to preferential categories? These include quite a lot of citizens, including disabled people, as well as parents raising a disabled child. Grandfathers/grandmothers who are over 80 years old can also be called beneficiaries. Also, children under the age of 1.5 years, orphans, until they reach adulthood have some benefits in terms of paying for housing services.

You can pay less than 30 to 50 percent for services only in relation to one of the beneficiaries and only for one residential property.

The second method is through compensation

Try to apply for a subsidy. If invoices are issued under the Housing Code, an appeal should be sent to a certain authority so that the latter can make a decision on their partial compensation.

The legislation lists the persons who have the right to receive government assistance in the form of a subsidy:

• Homeowners or members of housing cooperatives;
• Those renting or living in municipal or state-owned housing;
• Renting a separate private living space.

The third method is using recalculation

That part of consumers who are forced to constantly freeze in their homes in winter, consume cloudy water of questionable quality, or endure other services provided by residential complexes with a quality lower than acceptable, can rejoice: if you submit a separate application on this matter, they will recalculate the amount of payment, naturally , in the direction of decrease.

Recalculation of utilities due to non-occupancy.

Read about the procedure for recalculating utility bills here.

For example, water supply should be around the clock, there should be no interruptions. The maximum that can be expected from a water utility is the absence of water for 8 hours over a period of one month. The break in the transfer of water to housing cannot be more than 4 hours. And only when an emergency occurs, the water can be turned off for a whole day.

If you have more significant interruptions, use your right to recalculation. In addition, the water pressure must not be lower than normal, the temperature of the hot water at the outlet of the tap must be from 50 degrees, and not a degree less.

The fourth method is using an extract

There is a possibility that there are citizens registered in your home who previously lived there. Often such “phantom residents” are relatives who have long since died or moved to another locality or even country. Why do you need unnecessary financial losses? Discharge them from housing and that’s it – the payment will decrease accordingly.

How to save on housing and communal services: step-by-step instructions

1. Preferential categories. It is quite possible to receive benefits from the state if the family includes people who are entitled to them
   . Consider carefully whether the following categories live in your apartment:
   • disabled people;

   parents of disabled children;

2. elderly people over 80 years of age;
3. children under 1.5 years old;
4. orphans who have not reached the age of majority.

If you find any, you can get a discount on utility bills from 30 to 50%. Also, large families with 3 or more children living before or after the age of 16 can pay less, but provided that they are students of general education institutions

. If you managed to find several categories of beneficiaries in your family, you can choose which of them will be most profitable for you to pay your bills.

5. We receive a subsidy. People whose income is below average should think about how to save on housing and communal services by applying for compensation from the state
   . To do this, you need to calculate how much income per family member is received per month.
   If the figure is 2,000 rubles or less, the total payment for utilities should not exceed 3% of the total family income
   . If 1 resident of an apartment has 2000-2500 rubles per month, you can pay 6% of your earnings, but in order to spend 10% of your total income, you need to have 2500 rubles or more per person.
   If you have recalculated the total wages of all family members and it turns out that it is not enough to pay utility bills, you can apply for a subsidy
   . This can be done under the following conditions:
   you are a homeowner or member of a cooperative;
6. you are a tenant who lives in council or public housing;
7. you are a tenant who rents an apartment from private individuals.
8. We pay attention to the quality of the services provided . Very often we pay for heat, which in fact is not available during the cold months of the year, for hot water, which is turned off several times a week
   .
   If you find such violations, you can contact the emergency dispatch organization with a request, and make sure that the request is necessarily documented. Facts such as turning off water for more than 8 hours a month can be considered violations, and one shutdown session should not exceed 3 hours; only in case of serious accidents is it allowed to leave the population disconnected from the centralized water supply for up to 24 hours.
   Heating the water is also important - very often on the upper floors it is simply impossible to wait for hot water from the tap, since there is not enough pressure . This is also a strong argument for recalculating tariffs; hot water is considered really hot if its temperature is not lower than 50⁰C.
9. We sign everyone out of the apartment who is not needed . To find out how to save on rent, you need to think about how many people actually live in your living space and how many people are registered there
   .
   Surely there will be those who are simply listed in the documents and at the same time take money from your family budget.
   Try to get rid of all the “ghost residents” and the amount in your receipts will be significantly less .
   In order to discharge a person from an apartment, you can contact him personally or through the court
   . Such issues can be resolved most favorably by owners of privatized apartments, provided that the persons being discharged do not have the right of lifelong residence, i.e. abandoned privatization at one time.
10. We do not pay for the time we do not live in the apartment . According to the law, a person who does not live in an apartment for more than 5 days can draw up a special application and take it to the housing office for recalculation of tariffs.
    be valid, you must provide documentary evidence of your absence along with it: these could be personalized boarding passes, vouchers to sanatoriums or resorts, calls to a session, etc. If your family has several people who are rarely at home, you can avoid paying for them using this trick.

How to reduce utility bills

Economy and frugality are not human vices, but, on the contrary, allow you to save some money to fulfill a long-time dream or simply get rid of debts.

Therefore, it is worth starting to solve the problem of reducing rent now, using one or more methods.

To begin with, we note that it is not possible to save on utility bills for all types of services.

There is a so-called fixed fee, that is, equal for everyone:

• heating;
• elevator;
• removal of solid waste;
• major repairs, etc.

You will have to pay for these services in any case, even if you are a follower of a healthy lifestyle and do not use the elevator, preferring to go up and down the stairs.

The amount to be paid is calculated based on the cost of 1 unit of service multiplied by the number of registered persons.

And if you remove all citizens from the apartment, you will still have to pay, but at the minimum rate.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of rent by deregistering persons who do not live in the apartment or those who can register in another place where the payment for housing and communal services is much lower (for example, in a private house or in an apartment with no elevator or trash can).

Choosing housing

If the question of saving on rent arose at the stage of purchasing a home, then you have the opportunity to solve the problem before it arises.

The cost of housing and communal services varies depending on the type of house, its age, location and other factors.

Old low-rise buildings do not have an elevator or garbage disposal, which reduces utility costs.

You should also pay attention to heating. If a boiler room is built near the house, that is, residents use an individual heating system, then this increases the cost of the service (sometimes, on the contrary, reduces the cost).

When choosing housing and communicating with owners, you need to pay attention not only to the layout and repairs, but also to payments for housing and communal services.

After analyzing several apartments, you can determine where living is cheaper.

Also, when looking for housing, consider:

It is most profitable in terms of paying for housing and communal services to live in a private house.

Despite the need to pay land tax annually, the rent in a private building is significantly lower than in an apartment.

Installation of metering devices

The benefits of installing meters are noted after the first month of use.

Costs for housing and communal services are reduced by at least 20%. It is beneficial to install metering devices in apartments where many people are registered, that is, the rent is calculated regardless of the number of residents.

Counters make a person economical and force him to conserve natural resources (for example, turn off the lights in a room where no one is).

Installation of appliances is especially relevant in the question of how to reduce utility bills if no one lives in the apartment.

For example, the home is being prepared for sale or the owner is temporarily living in another place.

In this case, you will only have to pay for the fixed services that we discussed above.

And you won’t have to pay for services that are metered (water supply, sewerage, electricity and gas).

Savings after installing meters are noted after the introduction of the rule that citizens who do not use metering devices will pay 2 times more.

In the future, it is planned to toughen the punishment for those who ignored the requirements of the law.

Payment without commission

Paying utilities without commission is now quite problematic.

Additional fees apply at post offices and bank offices, as well as at ATMs and online resources.

The only way to save on fees is to cooperate with a bank that has this service.

To do this, you will need to open an account, either regularly replenish it, or receive a salary.

Refusal of some services

Many citizens pay for services they do not use.

For example:

1. Landline phone.
2. Intercom.
3. Radio, etc.

If you can call such services unnecessary, then terminate the contract, which will allow you to save a certain amount each month.

Checking the correctness of rent calculations

High costs for housing and communal services are not always the result of high consumption of water or electricity.

Sometimes the reason lies in incorrect calculation of payments:

Starting from 2012, receipt forms for payment for housing and communal services indicate the name of the service, the cost of 1 unit and the total amount.

In payment cards, information is provided in expanded form for the payer. Therefore, calculating the amount of rent is not difficult.

It is recommended to recalculate each position monthly to exclude deliberate deception on the part of utility companies and errors.

Reasonable consumption is the key to low payments

Even after you carefully study the composition of your family, it may happen that you will not be able to discover objective factors that will allow you to use the above legal tricks. This is not a reason to despair!

You can find out how to save on housing and communal services by optimizing your resource consumption. Follow simple rules and notice how your bills decrease and your family budget increases.

Save on lighting

In Belgium there is a very good tradition; when darkness falls, it is customary to use candles to illuminate the premises. In our country, such a romantic method of illumination would hardly take root, since a good candle costs several tens of hours more than electricity. There is only one way out - save light!

We do this by introducing the following rules into everyday life:

• We replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient LED analogues . Don’t be alarmed by their cost - it is absolutely justified; on average, one innovative lamp helps save from 50 to 80% of electricity per month. In addition, such lighting devices have a service life of up to 10 years.
• Learning to make the most of daylight . To do this, you need to make as many windows as possible, avoid cluttering the window sills with flower pots and other trinkets, and hang light wallpaper in the room that will reflect light well.

• Learning to turn off what we don't use . Absolutely all electrical appliances operating in standby mode consume electricity
  . This means that the TV, computer and other electronics “pulls” money from your budget even when you are not at home. To stop wastefulness, do not be lazy to turn off everything from the network; also remember that even if the charger is not connected to the device, but plugged into the outlet, it also causes your electric meter to add kilowatts.
• We install motion sensors . An adult will learn to press the switch button every time he leaves the room over a long period of time. In order not to waste precious resources while you develop a useful habit, you can use motion sensors; they can turn off the lights on their own when they leave the room.
• We buy energy-saving equipment . New generation household appliances can consume much less energy, but still have high power
  . Such equipment has an energy saving class of A and higher; its purchase will cost more, but within a few months it will pay for itself.

We pay less for heating

To find out how to pay less for heating your apartment, you should immediately figure out whether there are heat meters in your house or entrance. If there are none, you need to install them, because this way you can eliminate the cost of paying for the lines through which heat flows to you. You can also significantly reduce costs if you take care of ensuring a comfortable microclimate at home, the following tips will help you do this:

• Replacement of windows and balcony doors . Up to 70% of the heat intended for heating the room can be “aired” through old window frames and balcony doors. Replace outdated windows with energy-saving double-glazed windows - they will help warm your apartment and also protect you from street noise.

• Insulation of the entrance . Make sure that the front door is always tightly closed, this will prevent cold air from entering your apartment
  . Also try to replace the old windows on the staircases and you will immediately see how much warmer it will become in the entrance and in the apartment.
• We insulate the façade of the building . Now it is possible to insulate not only windows and doors, but also the walls of apartments. This service is not cheap, but you will be able to appreciate it at its true worth already at the first frost.

Reducing water consumption

Water use can also be minimized by optimizing your costs. To prevent bills from putting us into a state of panic, we need to adopt the following tips:

• We use water wisely . Take a shower instead of a bath, wash dishes in a sink with a plug, or better yet, use a dishwasher
  .
  Wash clothes only when the machine drum is completely full, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
  . All these simple tricks will help significantly reduce costs.
• We repair and replace plumbing fixtures . A dripping faucet or a leaking toilet is a minus of up to 140 liters of water per month. In order not to waste your money, take the time to repair and replace those parts and elements that have already worn out.
• We equip taps with aerators . An aerator is a sprayer that fits onto a faucet. It allows you to increase the flow of water with low pressure
  . Consequently, you can do all the same water procedures as before, but consume fewer resources.
• We save on drainage . You should replace your old tank with a new one equipped with an economical drain button
  . If this is not possible, then you can cheat, take a plastic container, it can be a canister or a 1.5-2 liter bottle, fill it with water, and lower it to the bottom of the tank. This way you can save up to 180 liters of water per day using just one toilet.

Those who are interested in how to save on rent in an apartment will definitely need all these tips. You can wait for help from the state, or you can do it yourself

start saving

on the consumption of gas, water and electricity. Take only legal measures to reduce gastrointestinal costs and you will be able to easily save a considerable part of your family budget.

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Hi all! Interesting events happened in my life that prompted new ideas for saving, but more on them in the following posts. As promised, this time the topic will be about how to save on utility bills

.
The first part will provide a brief analysis, and the second will include ways to save money
. So, let's begin…

Utility savings

When I met my neighbor downstairs and learned that he pays 12 thousand rubles/month for utilities , I was horrified

.
I even asked him for a receipt so I could trust him. Then he started asking his friends for meter readings and the cost of services
.
It turns out that many, knowing ways to save electricity and water, do not use them in life, and thereby pay huge sums to the management company, housing and communal services,
etc.
One of my friends said why should I save on utilities if the difference is small, about 20 rubles
. But 20 rubles. for one wash, and there can be 5-10 of them per month, and this already saves 100 rubles on electricity alone.

Different regions have different tariffs, so it would be correct to compare using meter readings. Compare your monthly readings with mine: cold water 2.5 cubic meters, hot water 0.5 cubic meters, electricity day - 29 kW/h, night - 19 kW/h. If your readings are higher than mine, then it makes sense to read about saving on utility bills, and if less, then share your ways to save in the comments.

Saving on utility bills

Where does saving on utility bills begin?! Let's start with saving water. Turn off the water whenever you are not using it, such as while washing dishes or while you are washing them.

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For some, it runs all the time from the beginning to the end of washing and even under strong pressure
.
It is very convenient and economical, both in terms of money and time, to first soap all the dishes, then rinse them of detergent under a slightly lower than average stream. In summer you can do without hot water, since cold water is warm enough at this time
. During shower procedures, the same thing, while you are washing, turn off the water and do not apply strong pressure, it is of no use. A colleague and I recently remembered my grandmother’s method - while you wash your hands, put a bucket or basin so that water can be poured there, and then it can be used to flush the toilet.

How to save on utilities: electricity

Let's move on to electricity. Many houses have day-night meters installed

.
In this case, it is beneficial to do many things at night
. It is very convenient to use the washing machine at night. In the morning you wake up and hang out your laundry, and at the same time pay 3 times less for electricity.

How to save on utility bills

The question immediately arises about food, how to cook at night. And here there is an excellent solution - a multicooker that will prepare the necessary dish. Night mode is valid until 7 am

.
Accordingly, when you wake up for work, you can prepare yourself breakfast
.
To boil water in a kettle, pour as much water as you need
. There is no point in pouring the entire kettle, since it will take more electricity to boil it.

Saving on water

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Counters.

After installing meters for cold and hot water, costs can be reduced by a third or even 2-3 times. This happens not only because in this case we begin to use water more carefully, but also because often, in fact, we spend less water than according to standards.

Economical toilet flush button.

You can install an economical flush button on the toilet tank, allowing you to flush up to 50% less water. Because The average family uses the drain dozens of times a day, you can save more than 10,000 liters of water per year.

I read on the Internet that particularly enterprising comrades insert a plastic bottle into the toilet tank, because of which less water gets into the tank