Reducing Utility Costs

     Have you ever wondered how sewer fees are determined? You may believe that cities charge each household based on that household’s specific use, but that’s not how it works. Most municipal sewer systems are designed to collect wastewater from many homes together, not to measure each property's contribution. They use water consumption as a proxy to calculate sewer usage. Generally, it works well, but sometimes it doesn’t.

Why Your Sewer Bill Isn't What You Think

     Recently, I received an email from a local homeowner who was up in arms about the ridiculous increase in his monthly sewer bill. He hadn’t suddenly increased any activities that would put an additional load on the sewer system—no new housemates, no extra-long showers. What was happening?!

     Come to find out he had a leak during the month when the city calculates rates for the coming year. Every winter, the city reviews each household’s water usage during the lowest-usage month; I think it’s January or February. This is a time when there’s not much outdoor watering going on, so the calculation assumes that whatever water is used is interior use: toilets, showers, dishes, laundry. Your usage during this one month sets your monthly sewer fee for the entire year.

     The logic is sound: summer water use for lawns and fruit trees never reaches the sewer system, so it shouldn't count. But it also means that if something goes wrong with your plumbing during that one benchmark month, you can get stuck paying for it for the whole year.

     If this happens to you, bring evidence of why your water usage was atypical so the city can adjust your rate. I’d recommend the plumber's invoice documenting the repair, along with your water usage history from prior months and from the same period in previous years.

     I guess if you wanted to save money, you could go on a month-long vacation during the benchmark month. If you’re trying to talk your spouse into a vacation, you could mention the discounted sewer bill as an incentive. (Good luck with that.)

Small Changes, Real Savings Elsewhere

     The email about sewer costs made me think about how to reduce utility costs in general. Here are a few areas where can—and cannot—influence our utility bills.

Thermostat discipline. Rather than keeping your home at a comfortably chilly 71–72°F during our hot summer days, bump up the temp to 74–76°F.

     Time-of-use awareness. If you look at your PG&E bill, you’ll likely see that there are tiered charges: higher prices for peak hours. So, consider doing laundry and running appliances like the dishwasher during off-peak hours.

     The garage freezer trick. Your freezer doesn’t need to be plugged in all the time to keep food cold. A plug-in timer that runs your freezer during the cheapest overnight hours lets a well-stocked freezer coast through the rest of the day without power. Same idea with water heaters. Time things so the water is a maximum heat in the early morning hours before showers and let the tank coast the rest of the day.

     For water, low-flow faucets and toilets, short showers, and using an efficient dishwasher can all save money.

Hidden Savings with Propane Gas

     Although you can use the tricks above to save a little money, unless you’re off the grid, you have no choice about who supplies your electricity, natural gas, water, or sewer services. However, propane is a different story. If you own your own propane tank, as opposed to renting one from a supplier, you get to shop around for propane gas. Prices between suppliers vary substantially on any given day. I once called around and found a 38-cents-a-gallon difference from low to high. On a 300-gallon fill, that can save you more than a hundred dollars. Note: buying your own tank costs more upfront, but it frees you to shop for the best price every single fill.

     While each little bit of savings may not seem particularly impressive, month after month, year after year, it adds up to real money.

     If you have questions about property management or real estate, please contact me at [email protected] or call (707) 462-4000. If you have an idea for a future column, share it with me and if I use it, I’ll send you a $25 gift certificate to Schat’s Bakery.

     Dick Selzer is a real estate broker who has been in the business for more than 50 years. The opinions expressed here are his and do not necessarily represent his affiliated organizations.