After writing last week’s post about saving money by using appliances other than the oven to prepare meals, I decided to explore some additional ways to reduce electricity consumption and the high bills that come with it.
Given our current electricity rates and how often our AC has been running because of the heat, I’m quite concerned about what our next couple of electric bills will look like. We need to reduce our consumption as much as we can. Thankfully, these strategies offer some relatively simple ways to do this.
How to reduce electricity consumption around the house
Switch out light bulbs
Lighting accounts for as much as 15% of a home’s electricity usage. Which light bulbs you install will determine just how much energy is required to light your home. Traditional light bulbs (incandescent bulbs), which have been in use for over a century, convert only 5% of their electricity into visible light. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs), which are newer types of light bulbs, last up to 10 times longer and use around 80% less electricity than incandescent bulbs.
Turn off lights when not in the room
Even if you switch out incandescent bulbs for CFLs or LEDs, making sure you turn off the lights when you exit a room is a key money-saving strategy. Even if you will be returning to the room in a bit, be sure to switch off the lights. Though I’m in the habit of doing this, lights are often left on in my house because my kids forget to turn them off! Reminding kids of the importance of turning off the lights is essential to making sure electricity isn’t wasted by lighting vacant rooms.
Turn appliances and electronics all the way off
Many pieces of electronic equipment continue to consume electricity when they are switched off. This is because certain components of the equipment (sensors needed to receive signals from remote controls, the power supplies that convert AC into DC power, keypads/displays that include LED lights, etc.) draw power continuously. The power consumed when a piece of equipment is plugged in but turned off is termed “standby power.”
Standby power accounts for as much as 10% of residential energy consumption, costing the average household around $108 each year. Reducing how much standby power your home consumes is very easy. The simplest way to do this is to unplug appliances and electronics when you are not using them. Though this is simple, it is not necessarily easy to do (it is hard to remember to unplug things and some outlets are hard to reach). A more convenient approach is to purchase Energy Star qualified products (these consume the least standby power in their respective product categories) and to use smart power strips. 
Check seals on appliances, windows, and doors
If the seal on a fridge or freezer is damaged or insufficient, then cold air will not remain inside. As the air leaks out, the appliance will have to work harder—consuming more energy—to stay cold. Likewise, bad seals on windows and doors allow air conditioned and heated air to leave a house, requiring the HVAC system to use more energy to keep a house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Fixing these seals can reduce your electricity costs.
Fix leaky or clogged ducts and change air filters
Leaky ductwork and clogged ducts can allow you to lose 20% of your HVAC’s efficiently. Likewise, dirty air filters cause HVAC systems to use 15% more energy. Given that the average American household in a single-family home spends a whopping 53% percent of its energy-related expenditures on heating and cooling (source), fixing ducts and changing air filters can have a significant impact on your electric bill.
Adjust the thermostat
We all want to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The obvious way to do this is to use the HVAC systems in our homes. However, as noted above, it costs a lot of money to run these. Thankfully, there are many ways to keep cool on the hot days and warm on the cold days that don’t require running HVAC systems. I addressed a number of these in a couple of posts I wrote several years ago.
Install a programmable thermostat
Speaking of thermostats, trading a basic one for a programmable one allows you to program the thermostat to be set at different temperatures at different points in the day. This means you can adjust the temperature when you are sleeping or away from home. For example, during the winter, you can let your house get colder overnight. You won’t notice this because you’ll be kept warm by covers on the bed. Likewise, during the summer, you can let the house warm up by 5 degrees while you are out of the house for work. Changing the thermostat in this way can save you 10% on your heating and cooling costs.
Air dry your dishes
I love the convenience of having a heat-dry cycle on the dishwasher. However, using this feature requires more electricity than allowing dishes to air dry. Thus, cracking open the door and letting the dishes air dry is a simple way to save a little on the electric bill.
Take care of the clothes dryer
The clothes dryer accounts for about 6% of a household’s electricity usage. Keeping the dryer clean—by emptying the lint trap after each load and clearing the vent duct—are the easiest things you can do to keep the dryer from working harder than is necessary. The latter task can easily be accomplished with the help of some simple duct cleaning tools.
Line dry clothes indoors
If you want to see even more significant savings than you’ll get by keeping your dryer clean, then you can consider air drying your clothes. This can be accomplished with the help of an outdoor clothesline or by line drying clothes indoors.
Final thoughts
I refer to these strategies as being easy because most of us can implement them without the help of a professional and with minimal expense. To save even more on electric bills, there are numerous strategies we could use that I don’t view as easy because they are expensive and/or require the help of a professional to implement. Examples of these include purchasing new appliances that are energy efficient, using solar power, and adding better insulation to the house.
For additional information on how to save money on your electric bill, visit my sources:
- 23 Tips to Help You Save Money on Your Electric Bill
- 10 Energy-Saving Life Hacks
- The Cost of Dirty Air Filters
What things are you doing to reduce your electric bill? I’d love to hear your tips!
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