25 Tips To Help You Save On Your Power Bill

25 Tips To Help You Save On Your Power Bill

1. Turn up your A/C or turn down your heat. Find the temperature that you can run your units at where you are on the verge of being uncomfortable. This is the temperature where you will see maximum savings (usually 78F in the summer and 68F in the winter).

2. Convert all of your light bulbs to LED lights if you can and turn off your lights when possible. Open the blinds in the morning and the evening (or all day long in the winter months) to let in as much natural light as possible.

3. Anything that is plugged into a socket is using electricity even when it is not powered on. Unplug everything when not in use. Make sure that all of your electronics are on a surge protector. This will help you to quickly unplug them.

4. If you live somewhere where there is more than 1 electricity provider, shop around. You might be paying more than necessary.

5. If you wash on hot or warm water, switch to cold water for everything but underwear, socks, towels and sheets.

6. Only run your dryer at night in the summertime. It really heats up your house and makes your A/C work overtime. Also make sure you clean your dryer venting to cut down on the amount of heat it produces.

7. Use ceiling fans but only when you are in the room. Ceiling fans merely move the air around making you feel cooler as the air moves over your skin. They do not cool the air. If ceiling fans run when the room is empty, it is wasting energy.

8. Turn down the temperature of your water heater. It doesn’t need to be more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. Put a lamp on a timer in the main room of your house to turn on when the sun sets and to shut off when you go to bed. This will keep you from needing to turn on the overhead lights.

10. Make sure your air 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.

11. Check your house for air leaks and seal them with products available at your local home improvement store.

12. Don’t put furniture and other things in front of heating and air conditioning vents.

13. Leave the interior doors of your home open as often as possible so that airflow is not restricted. Close closet doors if the closet does not have an air vent.

14. Make sure that outdoor lighting is turned off during the day. Use motion-detectors lights or timer switches.

15. 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 it takes to pump and heat the water.

16. Decide what you want from the refrigerator or freezer before you open it so you do not waste electricity by standing there and looking with the door open.

17. Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator every few months in order to lower your energy bill and to keep the condenser working better.

18. Use a slow cooker instead of your oven, especially in the warmer months of the year.

19. Clean the lint filter of your dryer after every load.

20. Perform activities such as mopping and washing dishes in the coolest part of the day. Not only do these activities add heat and moisture to the air, they also increase your body temperature and it might tempt you to turn the air conditioning down so you can cool off.

21. Run the exhaust fan in your bathroom for 20-30 minutes after baths and showers. This will remove the moisture from the air and keep the a/c from needing to cool the room back down.

22. Make sure the fan on your a/c unit is set to auto instead of on. It only needs to run when necessary, not 24/7.

23.. Run your kitchen exhaust fan to remove excess heat, moisture, and cooking odors for 15 minutes after using the stove top. Make sure you don’t run it any longer than that or it will be removing cool air from the home.

24. Open and close your exterior doors quickly and as little as possible. Every time you open the door, heated or cooled air escapes and your unit has to run harder to compensate for the lost air. Do not open your windows unless your unit is turned off.

25. 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.

Find out all the ways to save with our helpful Savings Bingo!