Today is June 4th and it is already 98 degrees outside. We are in for a HOT HOT HOT summer. Here are some tips on lowering your power bill….
1. Turn up the A/C. It’s the biggest money hog in the house. In many climates, running your air conditioner at 78 instead of 72 will save 40% of your cooling bill.
2. Look into putting a timer on your hot water heater.
3. Fluff your clothes for 10 minutes then hang to dry. You can also fluff them after line drying to get out any pollen they might of absorbed.
4. Use CFL bulbs.
5. Anything that is plugged into a socket is using electricity. Unplug everything when not in use!
6. If you live somewhere where there is more than 1 electricity provider, shop around. You might be paying more then necessary.
7. If you wash on hot or warm water, consider switching to cold water.
8. Only dry at night. It really heats up your house and makes your a/c work overtime.
9. Use ceiling fans but not in rooms you aren’t occupying.
10. Cell phone chargers use the same amount of energy rather there is a phone plugged into them or not! Make sure to unplug!
11. Turn down your water heater temp. It doesn’t need to be more than 120 degrees F.
12. Put a lamp on a timer in the main room of your house so it only clicks on and off when you need it the most.
13. Use natural sunlight for light except when it’s hot outside. When it’s hot, cover all the windows as much as possible.
14. When boiling water, use cold tap water and place the lid on the pot until it starts to boil. This will make it boil faster.
15. Turn your lights off whenever you leave a room! It really is cheaper. Check out this episode of Mythbusters!
16. Make sure your filters are clean. Check with the manufacturer of your equipment or with your utility company to see how often filters on your units need to be cleaned.
17. Set your computers to energy saving mode.
18. Don’t put furniture and other things in front of heating and air conditioning vents.
19. If you will be out of town for more than a couple days, turn off your water heater.
20. Close doors and vents in rooms you are not using.
21. Make sure that outdoor lighting is turned off during the day. Use motion-detectors lights or timer switches.
22. Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth and take shorter showers. This will not only save water, but it will also save the electricity that it takes to pump and heat the water.
23. Decide what you want from the refrigerator or freezer before you open them so you don’t waste electricity by standing there looking inside and keeping the door open
24. Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator every few months in order to lower your energy bill and to keep the condenser working better.
25. Before putting hot foods into the refrigerator, cool them to room temperature (unless the recipe tells you not to do this)
26. Cook several food dishes in the oven at the same time
27. Keep the oven door closed until the food is done cooking
28. Defrost food before you bake or microwave it. This uses 1/3 less energy than if you baked food that was still frozen.
29. Clean the lint filter of your dryer after every load.
30. Be sure to stop the dryer as soon as the clothes are dry. Don’t just use the timer setting.
31. If you can, shade your air conditioning unit. If your unit is in the bright sun, it will use up to 5% more energy than if it was in the shade.
32. Perform activities such as mopping and washing dishes in the coolest part of the day. These tasks add moisture — and heat — to your home in the summer.
33. With the bathroom door closed, a bathroom exhaust fan or open window will act to remove heat and moisture. This spares the air conditioner extra work.
34. Use your kitchen exhaust fan to remove excess heat, moisture and cooking odors. But don’t let it run more than 15 minutes after cooking or it will be taking out conditioned air.
35. Use ventilated awnings and other shading devices to prevent heat from entering windows exposed to direct sunlight.
36. Each time the door is opened, hot air enters your home. Try to keep in-and-out traffic from overworking your cooling system.
37. Remember that dark colors absorb heat. You can repel excess heat by using light-colored blinds, shades and draperies on the sunny sides of the house. Make sure the draperies are insulated or lined.
Do you have any tips to share?
(Thanks to Alabama Power for many of these tips!)
Jayne says
#14 is a myth. I remember an episode of “H*ll’s Kitchen” with Gordon Ramsey and one of the chefs did that and he threw a FIT! Was funny. :)
My dryer went out last winter and I refuse to get another one. My family shakes their heads because they don’t understand how I can get by without one.
Jayne says
Forgot to add: 2 summers ago we bought a high quality counter top oven/toaster/broiler/convection oven and since there are only 2 of us, we use that for almost all cooking.
delana says
Our dryer went out about a month ago and I have not missed it yet. I may break down this winter and get one but for summer, I plan on using mother nature’s free dryer. We also have a counter top oven that we use. My boys love it, and so do I, no need for me to heat the entire house just to bake a pan of brownies. Btw..there are 5 of us. ;-)
delana says
We installed a tankless water heater several years ago. I highly recommend them. Our first electricity bill was $40 cheaper. We love it and will never again have a tank heating the same water over and over all day. ;-)
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Wow, that is a good savings!
delana says
Yes, it is, and like I said we love it. No need for having to remember to turn one off and back on. You can get a shower head that works the same as well as point of use ones that connect right under your sinks.
Siobhan @MoneyDearest says
If you run an extra spin/drain cycle on your laundry it can cut drying time by about 50%
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
That’s a good idea!
Douglas says
Be a little careful on lowering your water heater too much. It does very between gas and electric, but some potential health problems can occur when the water is below 120. Do a little research on this with your water heater.
Humidity makes A/C work harder. So when you take a shower, be extra careful to do what ever you can to vent the moisture out.
If you have an attic, consider putting some sort of fan to vent the hot air out of your attic because the air can often get hotter in their than it is outside. On the same not make add insulation. This will help keep the cold air in and more importantly doesn’t allow the heat in the attic to warm up your house.
Cook outside if you can. Any heat you don’t release into the house the A/C does not have to make up for. This is an added benefit of going CFL or LED lights. Not only do you save power on your lighting, but you save money on your air conditioning.
Watch your night time temperature. If it’s going to be 65 degree’s or lower, you can use it to pre-cool your house.
Lisa says
Just a word on #20. It’s not a good idea to close vents in the winter time when using the furnace. It can cause the furnace to short cycle (to switch off automatically.)
Only use the self-clean cycle on your oven on cool days or at night, and preferably after having used the oven to bake something. That way, it doesn’t have to heat back up to that temp for the clean. It can take off from that temp.
Lint filter in your dryer should be cleaned after every load to PREVENT A FIRE.
donna says
I run water through my husband’s coffee pot for two reasons: 1. to rinse out the machine. and 2. to heat water for the dishwater. The water come out clean ( i only make 2 cups a day for him) and it’s hot. Then, I add it to the dishwater. We never fill the sink all the way up, only a few inches of water does the trick. And, we air dry our dishes. We quit using our dishwasher because we have hard water and it wasn’t getting the dishes clean.
Another thing we try to do is: cook by using as little dishes as possible. Either by grilling outside, crockpot, casseroles, or one-pot meals….saves dishes, water, time, and electricity. And, it get the creative juices flowing, even from my daughters.
JL says
I’m in Alabama as well in Spanish Fort. My hubby and I are getting a quote tomorrow on residential window tinting. Some of these window films can significantly reduce the solar heat that penetrates your home through the windows. The less heat entering the room, the cooler the room and reduces how hard your AC has to work to cool your home. I sure hope this works cause it is hot here!
JT says
I’m in Alabama too, Kristin. How I wish I weren’t, especially when faced with another humid, rainy Gulf Coast summer…. but thanks for the tips!
Luci says
If dryer hose placement is an option, pick the one with the shortest run to the outside. I detest having a dryer in the middle of the home. The lint build up can be dangerous and costly energywise since the dryer doesn’t dry as well as lint blocks the airflow in the vent. This happens far less if the vent line is shorter. Short or long, the vent line (not just the dryer lint catcher) should be cleaned. Many would say annually.
Krista P says
Its costly up front, but replacing your windows with energy efficent ones will help in the long run. They come to your house with a demonstration and they show you how the hot sun makes your house more hot. With energy efficent windows, no heat comes in, and you can keep your blinds and curtains open with no extra cost. : )
Monica says
And you will get a tax credit for installing energy efficient windows!
Janelle says
Also, look into whether your power company has an equal pay option. I love it because I always know what my monthly bill will be regardless of our usage. You bill gets reviewed periodically, and once a year it will get adjusted depending on your actual usage over the past year. So if you actually used less than you paid for, your monthly bill for the next year will drop.
Emily says
Great, Great Tips! Thank you!
Kelley says
If you don’t have a digital thermostat, look into installing one. We did this last summer and it lowered my bill by about $30 / month!
Danielle says
Haha. I WISH this was a problem in Seattle =b Instead I still get to fight the husband who would rather turn on the heater & sit on the computer in his boxers then put on a pair of PJ pants & a sweater.
donna says
I think our husband’s may be twins. Every winter, I have to fight with him about the same thing: him in his underwear, under a thin blanket, and the heater turned to high. we live in the Tampa area, but we get a few cold snaps.
Michele says
Ditto on the husband girls! Me and the kids call him the home sick eskimo in the summer because he rolls up in a blanket and turns down the air. “He sleeps better when it’s cold”. We also sleep with the celing fan over our bed on high! I keep a head cold even in summer! I sometimes feel like I save money so he can spend it. Uggggg!
Amanda says
For # 14 I place my cold water in the microwave for 4-6 mins (depending on how much I’m heating up) beofre I put it on the stove….microwaves use less electricity that the stove :D
Stephanie says
Always have maintenance performed on your HVAC equipment before the start of each season. Not only will it help with efficiency, it may save you costly repairs down the road.
Carmen says
Like it! Like it! Just talking to the hubby about your tips! Thanks!!!!
Lisa Gray says
Have a maintenance on your air conditioner system this will help the system to work more efficiently