The gas company has been installing new gas meters on my street and because of some miscommunication (probably someone in my house not paying attention to a note that was left on our door), we’ve had no gas for the past couple days. That means no cooking on the stove and no hot water. Coincidentally, we weren’t doing any stove cooking these past couple days, so we only noticed the no-gas situation when the water in the shower stopped being hot. A call to the gas company got everything sorted out. My house didn’t actually need a new meter, so the gas will be turned on and we will be able to cook and shower as normal starting tonight.
But a couple days without gas-heated water made me think: It’s really not too bad to shower with only cold water in the summertime. (Obviously, it would be a different thing in January. I’m very glad the gas company is replacing the meters in the summer and not during the winter.) The water is a little cooler than I’d like, but I got used to it. It might even be good for a body to get cooled off a little more than is comfortable.
So, the thought struck me: Regularly showering with cold water (in the summer) might save some money. Not much, considering the summer gas bill is less than $25 per month. Aside from showering, we still cook with gas and use hot water for clothes washing and doing the dishes. So, at most, maybe half of the bill goes for hot-water showering. You have to ask yourself: $12 for hot water used for showering … or $12 towards being mortgage-free. It’s a question worth thinking about. Even if the answer is “hot showers”, it’s good to always be working at finding ways to save money.
