Does it feel like you’re spending too much money every month on electricity for your home?
The average American homeowner pays about $110 each month for electricity. But it’s not uncommon at all for some homeowners to pay a whole lot more than that to keep their lights on.
If you’re sick and tired of spending a small fortune every time you make an electricity bill payment, there are certain things you can do to lower your electric costs. You could save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on electricity every year by taking a few simple steps.
If you need help with an electric bill that has gotten out of control recently, here are eight surprising ways in which you can bring it back down to earth.
1. Replace Your Old Thermostat With a Smart Thermostat
Your home’s heating and cooling system is responsible for using a big chunk of the electricity that’s used in your home every month. With this in mind, it’s important for you to do whatever you can to stop it from using too much electricity.
One of the simplest ways to do this is by getting rid of your old thermostat and replacing it with a smart thermostat. You should be able to cut your electricity bill down to size in no time at all once you have a smart thermostat in place.
With a smart thermostat, you’ll be able to take better control of the temperature inside your home. You can adjust it from almost anywhere in the world so that it’s not too high or too low at any point and blowing through electricity.
You can also count on a smart thermostat to pick up on your preferences as far as the temperature in your home is concerned and make adjustments for you. It’ll learn what you like the temperature set at throughout any given day and make sure it’s never too high or too low.
A smart thermostat will cost you several hundred dollars in most cases. But the initial cost of one will be well worth it once you see how much money it’s able to save you over the long run.
2. Make Sure Your Home Has Enough Insulation
When is the last time you took a look at the insulation in your home to make sure that you have enough of it? If it’s been a while now since you did it, that could very well explain the high electricity bills that you’ve been enduring in recent months.
Your heating and cooling system can be every bit as efficient as you want it to be. But if the air that it sends out into your home is disappearing in a matter of minutes due to a lack of insulation, it’ll all be for naught.
Make it your mission to make sure you have enough insulation in your attic space and behind your walls. It’ll go a long way towards reducing your average electric bill.
3. Turn Down the Temperature on Your Hot Water Heater
There is nothing like jumping into a hot shower first thing in the morning when you climb out of bed or taking a hot shower at the end of a long day at work. But how hot do you really need a shower to be to enjoy it?
Unfortunately, a lot of people have the temperatures on their hot water heaters set too high, and they’re paying the price for it every month in the form of a high electric bill. The higher that you have your hot water heater’s temperature set, the more often it’s going to have to run to keep the water inside of it warm.
By turning the temperature on your hot water heater down just slightly, you’ll put yourself into a position to save some money on your electricity bill every month.
4. Use Cold Water in Your Washing Machine Whenever Possible
Many people think that the only way to get clothes clean when you stick them into the washing machine is by washing them in scalding hot water. They don’t hesitate to use hot water each and every time that they put a load of clothes into their washing machine.
There are some instances in which you’ll want to wash clothes in hot water. But more often than not, you can get away with washing clothes in cold water and get them every bit as clean as they would be otherwise.
By using cold water over hot water, you can also reduce the amount of money that you’ll have to pay to wash clothes every month. Your hot water heater won’t have to spring into action every time that you wash a load of clothes anymore.
5. Install LED Light Bulbs Throughout Your Home
Do all of the lighting fixtures throughout your home have incandescent light bulbs in them? If so, you’re probably paying too much money to do something as simple as turn the lights on in your house.
Studies have shown you could save a bunch of money by removing incandescent light bulbs from your lighting fixtures and replacing them with LED light bulbs. LED lights are 90% more efficient than incandescent ones.
You will have to pay a little more money for LED light bulbs upfront as compared to incandescent light bulbs. This scares some people off and prevents them from even considering LED light bulbs.
But in addition to saving you money on your electricity bills, LED light bulbs will also last a whole lot longer than incandescent light bulbs. So they will, in essence, pay for themselves over time and be worth every penny that you pay for them.
6. Upgrade Old Appliances With Energy-Efficient Ones
If you’re still using appliances in your home from the early 2000s or, worse, the 1990s, there is a good chance that they’re not anywhere near as energy-efficient as they should be. Many old appliances waste a lot of energy when you have them plugged in.
You should strongly consider replacing these old appliances with energy-efficient ones. These appliances will use just a fraction of the electricity that your old ones do, and they’ll also serve their intended purpose better.
Additionally, putting new appliances into your home could help add some value to it. If you go to sell your home in a few years, the appliances will be a great selling point for it.
7. Unplug Electronics, Chargers, Etc. When You’re Not Using Them
Take a walk around the inside of your home right now and check out all of the different things that are plugged into the outlets throughout it. Chances are, it’s filled with everything from TVs and computers to video game consoles and chargers for your various devices.
As long as you’re not using these things, you might think that you’re in the clear when it comes to energy consumption. But even when these items aren’t being used, they can still use up a little bit of electricity when they’re plugged into an outlet.
You should unplug anything that you don’t plan on using anytime soon so that it’s not able to waste electricity. You might be surprised to see how much money this could save you.
8. Change Your Home’s Electric Supplier
Do you live in a power to choose energy market? If you’re not sure, you should find out right away since this is often the best way for people to trim their electricity bills. Energy price comparison can help you find the best deal and save money.
If you live in a market like this, it’ll give you the option to choose your home’s electric supplier. You can check out the electricity rates offered by several different companies and select the one that can provide you with the best prices.
You can also repeat this process every so often to ensure that you’re never paying more than you should have to for electricity. You have the right to do this, and you should use it to get the best deal for yourself.
Many homeowners are in a position to pick their home’s electric supplier and don’t even realize it. It’s important for you to take advantage of this if you can so that you’re able to find the supplier that will extend the right rates to you and keep your electricity bill low.
Bring Your Electricity Bill Down by Taking At Least a Few of These Steps
As you can see, it’s not that hard to bring your electricity bill down if you know what you’re doing. There are lots of different ways in which you can reduce the price that you have to pay for electricity each month.
Try out some of the things that we’ve talked about here to see what a big difference they can make. After just a month or two, you should start to save some money and keep more cash in your pocket.
Would you like to learn about some of the things you can do to save money in other areas of your life? Read through the articles on our blog to get the tips and tricks you need to do it.
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