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In case you don't remember, Tetris is that block stacking computer game where the player tries to quickly make all of the blocks fit together without gaps. Well, there's another type of Tetris. This one is played with the dishwasher. The makers of Tetris even wrote about it in this article on their site.
Like just about everyone else, we received notice from our energy provider that rates will be going up this winter. We use natural gas to heat our house, heat water for washing/bathing, and cook on our stovetop. We're doing what we can to reduce our natural gas use. We've been taking significantly shorter showers this past summer to save water for our garden. The bonus was that our natural gas use dropped as well with those Navy showers.
Sunday morning my husband was about to start the dishwasher. I asked him to hold off and let me play a little dishwasher Tetris with the dirty cups, plates, glasses, mugs, and bowls. He'd not heard that name before, but he indulged my need to maximize the dishwasher's space. I was able to rearrange the contents enough to allow for 2 additional dinner plates and 3 additional glasses or mugs. Maybe 2 plates and 3 cups doesn't sound like a lot. However, it's about 2/3 of what we use for a Sunday lunch.
So this has me rethinking how I can stack the dishwasher to get even more to fit and still get it all clean. Our dishwasher uses the same amount of hot water whether it is completely full or it is only partially loaded. I admit, we'd gotten lazy in loading the dishwasher. It seemed like work to pack it completely full. In addition, running the dishwasher at the same time each day, whether it was completely full or not, became a habit. In addition to how I stack the dishwasher, I can also see that we can make different choices in the dishes we use for each meal or snack. Most breakfasts don't "need" a dinner-size plate, and neither do some lunches. Salad plates take up much less room in the machine and are often just the right size.
We've also switched to washing clothing in cold water. According to our natural gas supplier, the agitation of the machine does most of the work to clean laundry. Cold water it is.
And we're rethinking what months and even hours we want to run the furnace. We've been fortunate so far this fall in that we haven't needed to turn the furnace on yet. I expect that later this month the weather will be cooler, and we'll want some heat. I'm thinking we can have the thermostat set to turn down the heat 15 minutes earlier each evening and then come on again 15 minutes later each morning. That would save a half hour of heating per day, or 15 hours per month.
I'm hoping that by saving small amounts of gas in multiple areas, the total savings will offset a large chunk of the increase.
Our natural gas is expected to go up by 17% this winter with a possibility for additional increases later. I fully understand that folks in other places will see much more severe increases in cost to heat their homes. So I don't wish to minimize anyone else's pain right now. A 17% increase is a lot for us. In winter, our heating bill is about $200/month. With a 17% increase, that would be an extra $34 per winter month. We don't have a category of non-discretionary spending where we are now spending a whole lot less. The spending in every category of our budget has increased, and without a corresponding increase in income. I assume many others are experiencing a similar financial squeeze from all areas. What I can say is I am doing what I can to mitigate increased costs. Daily, I seek out ways to save that I have previously overlooked.
What are your plans for increased utility costs this coming winter?
