Daily Home Renovation Tips

Why?

Well, we are trying to increase the total number of energy and clean water savings ideas in our Free Energy and Water Saving Guide.

Prior to the two contests we were up to 504 combined ideas from the past few years provided by visitor to DailyHomeRenoTips.com.

Now, we are up to a total of 537 money saving ideas for the home which are also environmentally friendly.

What were the (lets do the math now 537 - 504) 33 new additions to our collection?

Well, in this article we will focus, since it is summer, on some of the water savings ideas we received which were added to our collection.

I hope you can use at least some of them to reduce the amount of clean water you use, and that others in your home use, so both save money through reduced water usage bills as well as save an increasingly scarce resource.

Today, we will list the ideas to reduce the amount of clean water used around the outside of the home … there are ten of them. The number beside each water saving idea is where you can find it in our Free Energy and Water Saving Guide.

528, Sweep Garage VS Using Garden Hose. An extension of an existing clean water saving tip in our collection. This one is harder to do as all that dust and dirt will make the air challenging to breathe. So, if you do this, I would suggest wearing one of those surgical masks. Still, it will save you from using a lot of clean water from the garden hose, especially if you have a double car garage.

529, Check Pool For Leaks. Is there a tear in the liner? What about around the drain at the bottom for in-ground pools? How about at the top of the liner? It does not take long to periodically check these areas to make sure you are not wasting clean water, and thus wasting money, if water is leaking out of your pool (for those fortunate enough to have a pool with their homes).

530, Check for Leaks Around Pool Filters and Pumps. Continuing on the back yard pool theme, check to make sure that the connections for your pool’s water filtration and water pumps are secure and not leaking water.

531, Water Plants Deeply But Less Frequently. Just as with lawns, if you water plants in your gardens just a little every day or two you are training their roots to grow close to the surface, which will require you to water them a lot. Instead, water your garden plants longer each time, but space out how often you water them. Such an approach will cause the soil on top of the surface to become dryer while the soil beneath the surface to remain moist. This will train the roots to go down into that consistently moist soil under the surface.

532, Group Plants By Watering Needs. I really like this suggestion from one of our site’s visitors. It never occurred to me but is a great idea. If aesthetically it is just as pleasing to you, yes, group the plants in your garden which need little water together while those which require a lot of water in a different area. This will let you spot water the plants needing much water, water those which do not less, and in the end you will use much less clean water for your garden and save money from reduced water bills.

533, Do Not Overwater Outdoor Plants, Can Rot. Do you know how much water each plant in your garden need? I have to confess that I do not. I should. It would save me money by not watering as much the plants which do not need it. And, excessively watering outdoor plants, just as with indoor plants, can cause their roots to rot and kill the plant.

534, Wash Pet Outdoors. If you give your house pet a bath, why do it in the bathtub in nice weather? Instead, consider washing her or him outside on the part of your lawn which needs the water the most? That will reduce the need to water that part of the lawn at least for a little while longer and, yes, save you money.

535, Don’t Forget To Turn Off Manual Lawn Sprinkler. In all of our houses we have lived before this one I was always forgetting to do this. I would leave the manual sprinkler on and forget about it until bed time. Geeesh. Consider using the timer on your microwave oven or on an egg timer to help you remember to turn off or change the location of your manual lawn sprinkler when it is running.

536, Use Low Angled Sprinklers. While the shape of any lawn can dictate the type of manual water sprinkler, using a low angled sprinkler will cause more of the water to reach its intended location on your lawn and not be moved about by the wind. Those high fan type manual sprinklers are about the worst when it comes to adverse impact from the wind.

537, Use Pool Cover To Reduce Evaporation. And, finally, if you do have a pool consider buying and using a cover to keep more of the existing water in the pool and not evaporating into the air.