7 ways to save on electricity

As I was growing up, I remember my parents always telling my brothers—and me—to “turn out the lights,” or “close the door,” and “stay out of the refrigerator.” The reason being it was too expensive to heat or cool the outside, and “You kids don’t need to play in the refrigerator.” My parents (and many others) were very conscious of the cost of electricity, and they did what they could to save on electricity.  I will share with you. How you can save money on your electric bill.

Many years later

My children and grandchildren have all received that same lecture: Keep the door closed, turn off the lights, and stay out of the refrigerator. We need to save on electricity.  In fact my kids give the lecture now.

You know, of course, that being conservative (frugal) with something like electricity is outside the scope of most children’s thinking. They don’t translate the idea of something that is just there—so ubiquitous—into money. In fact, most young children have no concept of paying for anything. You do, though. You understand that money you pay for “wasted” electricity is money you don’t have to put towards something else. What you may not realize is just how big a chunk of your money goes to pay for electricity: In the US, the power bill accounts for 13 to 18 percent of an average household’s bills. Yikes! No wonder we want to save on electricity.

But I’ve never heard someone who was responsible about paying their bills say, “I don’t set money aside to pay the electric bill. If I have it, I have it, and if I don’t, I don’t.” You can’t afford to be that casual about it. If you don’t pay your electric bill, the power company turns off your electricity. Without electricity, bad things happen: You can’t charge your phone, the lights don’t work (That’s a problem if you have a room without windows—say the bathroom.), Food in the refrigerator starts going bad, and if you have an electric stove…I’m sure you can think of many more inconveniences, I sure can. In addition, there is a rather steep fee that must be paid before service is restored.

I’ve never had my electricity tuned off. I did lose it for a month when hurricane Hugo went through Charleston, S.C. in September, 1989. I lived with the heat (South Carolina and no air conditioning, you know), no hot water, no laundry facilities, etc. Believe me, it was miserable. But, at least, it was the power company’s responsibility to do the reconnect, and I had Homeowner’s Insurance that covered the food that spoiled.

Everyone I know, whether they are frugal or not, budgets money for the electric bill. They don’t want to deal with the consequences of not paying. It’s too much trouble and too expensive.  Everyone i know works to save money on their electric bill.  I have 7 tips for you to save money on  your electric bill.  If you know of any tips i have missed please put them in the comments section.

Knowing how to save money is a big deal.

7 ways to save on electricity

Turn out the lights

That’s an easy task. Just flip the light switch as you leave the room. Especially, if everyone’s is on the way out, there is no need to have lights on.

Set the AC up a little

When you’re home, set your thermostat to 78 degrees. It’s a no brainer, the closer to the ambient outdoor temperature you set the air-conditioning, the less energy it will use to cool your house/apartment which translates into you save on electricity, and you save money.

If your dwelling will be empty for the day set the temperature up a little higher. If you’ll be gone a few days think about turning the AC off. Notice I said if you’ll be gone a few days. You don’t want to do this if you’ll only be out for the day. With the air-conditioning off, the house and all its furnishings will warm up considerably—and fairly quickly. If you turn it off on a daily basis, cooling it back down (every day) is likely to increase the amount of electricity you use, and that defeats the purpose.

The best of both worlds would be to purchase and install a programmable thermostat. You can set the thermostat to change temperature right before you get home and to set the temperature up higher or off when you are not home.

Close your curtains

Close the curtains…not but because you’re hiding from the neighbors, but because you don’t want the sun to shine into the house and heat up the inside. The battle between the AC and the sunshine means the AC has to work harder and longer to keep the inside of your house cool.

By the way, black out curtains are best, but anything that blocks the sun will help keep your cooling expenses (the electric bill) down.

Hot water

If your hot water is too hot to use, set the hot water temperature down. It doesn’t make sense to have the water so hot that you need to add cold water to cool it off before you use it. (That’s a good tip regardless the season, hot or cold.)  If your hot water heater runs off of electricity you will save electricity and money.

Look (feel) for air leaks

Doors

You know, in the winter time you can definitely feel the cold air as it comes in around the door. During the summer you may not notice warm air leaking in so much, but it does. (Or, cool air can leak out.)

Look at your entry doors. Is there a gap under the door? You need to get rid of that gap. It lets in hot air and/or lets cool air out. The most inexpensive way to deal with this problem is to roll up a towel and place it along the bottom of the door; it’s the same way you deal with a cold air draft in the winter.

Check the door frame for weather stripping. If it’s torn, cracked, or missing, replace it. It’s easy to install and can easily save you quite a bit of money on your electric bill.

Windows

Fixing drafty windows is different from dealing with doors. Windows come in a great variety of styles. The characteristics of each type of window require a different approach and might be time (and money) consuming. You can find some easy—temporary—fixes at house logic.

Set your fans to rotate counterclockwise

A fan moves air. You want to feel that air movement. Why? Because a fan doesn’t actually cool down your house; it’s the movement of air across your skin (and the evaporation of perspiration as it does) that makes you feel cooler. It’s similar to the wind chill factor during winter; it doesn’t change the temperature, but it sure feels like it.

Set your ceiling fan blades to turn counterclockwise. When they turn in that direction, they push air down toward you.

Also, since the fan doesn’t really cool a room, if you’re not going to be in the room to feel the effect, turn it off when you leave. You’ll save on electricity.

Grill when you can

Cooking in the kitchen, especially using the oven generates a lot of heat. If you cook outside on the grill, the air conditioning won’t need to compete

with heat generated by cooking indoors.

Conclusion

Your electric bill consumes a significant percent of the money you use to run your home. I’ve listed several things you can do to help manage that expense. Some of these things are so simple a child can do them. You can save on electricity, and decrease your electric bill.