Electricity’s one of those necessities in life that we all rely upon. Unfortunately, many of us were never properly educated on smart ways to cut electricity costs. As a result, you very well might’ve been flying blind up to this point, and completely unaware of different habits you’d adopted that are having a direct negative impact on your monthly electricity bills. That’s just no good. We’re all striving to save the extra buck whenever the opportunity presents itself. The good news is that we’ve managed to pull together an all-star team of helpful tips to save on electricity. You’ll definitely want these on hand as you responsibly get your house ready for winter. Winter can be quite a tough time to save on electricity, so it helps to have some tips and pointers to light your way during those dark months.
Compare electricity plans.
It’s dangerously easy to fall prey to an electricity plan upgrade in your house that you never even knew took effect in the first place. That’s why it’s essential to compare electricity. You can fill out a quick online survey that takes less than a minute, which then brings back to you a personalized array of energy plans that best align with your budget and household needs. Sometimes you can end up being put on an electricity plan at a rate well above what you previously paid without even being notified of the change. That’s why it’s crucial for you and everyone else to stay on top of that electricity plan status every month.
Close the door.
You very well might have buried memories of being scolded by a parent for not keeping the door closed as often as you should’ve. As you’ve grown older and had to wrestle with formidable electricity bills of your own, you likely understand what your parents meant back then painfully well nowadays. Every time you leave the house, consider that the air you have in the house is precious and can’t escape. It’s literal warmed air that you’ve paid for to keep your house nice and cozy. The more of that warm air you let back out into the cold, the harder you’ll inevitably make your heater unit work to keep the house comfortable. All that work adds up on your bill really quickly over time.
Don’t run your appliances without full loads.
The value of avoiding running household appliances like your dishwasher or washer/dryer units can’t be expressed enough. An average washing machine burns up 590kWh, and the average dryer burns up 769kWh. Those measurements translate to right around 70 cents per usage. You can thus easily imagine how quickly those 70 cent runs will stack up over time. So, avoid the temptation that might possess you to always keep that favorite pair of jeans or perfect fit plain white tee clean. Instead, wait to clean those articles of clothing until you have a full load of clothes in need of washing.
Regularly check your fridge settings.
This is an easy surefire way to cut down on your electricity bill. Sometimes when folks are grabbing stuff out of the fridge they can end up unknowingly pushing those temperature settings out of place. You want your fridge temperature to be hanging out right between 35-40 degrees. You run your fridge any lower and you’re going to end up spending a lot more money to keep that food colder than it even needs to be in the first place.
Turn the lights off.
Well, not all the time. Seriously, though, just turn those lights off as often as you can. Yes, it sounds impossibly simple on the surface level, but it really is the best way to save. We’re all guilty of getting so caught up over what’s going on in our own heads, the day’s responsibilities, the impending deadlines, and more that we forget a crucial step on the path toward reducing those electricity bills. We forget to just turn off the lights. If you consider that every 40-watt lightbulb you have uses .04 kWh an hour, and you’re charged 10 cents per kWh of electricity, that ultimately means that every hour you have the lights off you save $.004 cents. Sure, that doesn’t sound like some kind of life-changing amount, but if you’re able to turn off five of those lights for 10 hours a day, you’ll end up with an extra $6 in your pocket by the end of the month. That could be $6 that you could then have for bus/subway tickets, or maybe a special desert.
