How Can Reduce My Electricity Bills?

Answer 1

I live in a very hot area which means that electric bills soar during the hot summer months. I have taken a couple steps to reduce electricity consumption.

The most obvious are:
- Turn off the lights you are not using (i.e. when you leave a room).
- Use fluorescent bulbs. They cost more, but they last longer and consume a lot less.
- Turn off electronics that are not in use.
- Find out if your electricity provider has times of the day when electricity costs less and do stuff like laundry at cheaper times.

As I said, in the summer months, it's the A/C that will really raise the bill. To mitigate this you can:
- Put sunscreens on your windows, specially if they're not dual panel or tint them if possible.
- Turn up the thermostat. Our electricity provider says that you save 3% of your bill for every degree you move up. The use of ceiling fans will make moving the temperature up a lot easier, believe me.
- Get a programmable thermostat and set it to increase the temperature a couple degrees when you're not home.

If you have an electric range, try to change it for a gas one. Same with the water heater.

Answer 2

Here are some thing I have done.
Replace regular light bulbs with the new energy saver bulbs.
Keep curtains and blinds closed, so heat from the sun cannot get in.
Leave the air turned off when you are not home.
Set the thermostat around 75 if you get warm while at home.
Use gas instead of electricity; it's cheaper.
Use fans.

Also here's some things you should do...
Check your meter and make sure it matches with your bill.
There have been way too many occurences where the meter reader simply guessed your meter reading based on an average for your area.
Also, look into solar energy. It's expensive to start up, but the savings will be yours years down the road, especially when energy prices increase.

Answer 3

there's is a program that the electric company called Leveilized Billing calculation system where they calculate your bill for a 12 months and you'll pay a lower bill from then on.Or there's another way they calculate your bill,I don't know exactly the name of that one.But call them for other ways for them to work with you.If not start unplugging electrical things that you're not using at the time.Buy fluorescent bulbs for your lights.Keep lights off when not needed.Keep your central air when not home at least 75 or even 80 degrees when not at home.When you are home 75 or 70 degrees.Window units works pretty much the same keep it a least on low when not home,high just to cool it off when you are at home.Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Our Electric Co. raised our prices. Last month our bill was out rages! So here is what I did and it worked... brought our electric bill down $50.00.

1 - Switch over to fluorescent light bulbs
2 - Turn all lights out in rooms that are not in use
3 - I have a sensor light at my back door. I also switched to a fluorescent light bulb.
4 - Turned my thermostat up to 80 and leave it there
5 - Leave all doors and windows closed to hold cool air in
6 - Run ceiling fans to circulate the cool air
7 - Only run dish washer when we have company
8 - My Hot Water Heater is electric, so I wash my clothes in cold water
9 - My house faces East and West, so I close curtains in the mornings on the East side of the house. Open them in the afternoon and close West side curtains. If it's cloudy don't worry about it :)

I hope this helps you as much as it has helped us.

Answer 5

Better insulation in the roof, walls, and windows. Updating the AC and furnace with newer more efficient models along with the water heater. They also make wraps to put over the water heater to help with efficiency.

Take cooler and shorter showers, use programmable thermostats on the HVAC system. Close the window shades to reflect heat back outside instead of heating up the interior. In the summer, try cooking outdoors more on the grill. This will keep the AC from working too hard to offset the kitchen heat.

Just use your head, and be conscious of the energy that you are consuming. Think of ways to reduce it. good luck.

PS when you compare utility bills from last year, look at the usage and not the total bill. With rates rising, it may look like you are not saving, but when the usage is lower, then you know that you are. good luck.

Answer 6

Appliances that use the most energy are your hot water heater and air conditioner. Use cold water whenever possible, especially when washing clothes. Also, as someone else stated, keep the A/C at 78 degrees oror higher whenever possible. Call your electric company and have them come out and perform an energy survey.

Answer 7

All the above suggestions (the ones that were real suggestions) are good ones. ALSO most electric companies have an "on-peak" and "off-peak" hours that change between summer and winter. find out what your electric companies are and try to use a minimum amount of power during those times and more during the off-peak hours. do laundry at that time instead of on-peak hours. etc. it will help alot in keeping your bill lower

Answer 8

Use compact florescent light bulbs, they use like a fourth the electrcity and last about eight times longer.

Put power strips in, in areas in your house where you have alot of electronics. So like if you have an entertainment center or your kitchen appliances put them on a power strip and turn it off when your not using them. Some electronics continue to use elctricity even when they are turned off.

When its cold, you can make a room a bit warmer by making sure all the shades are open so the sun can get in, aswell as when its cold closing shades to keep heat in.

Answer 9

To save money on electricity, I like to pull my clothes out of the dryer when they are halfway dry. I give them a good shake, and hang everything I can on plastic hangers. I hang pants, skirts, shorts, even T-shirts. Most of them are dry by the next day. Be sure to use plastic hangers to avoid rust.

Then for the little things that are left over like sox and underwear, I toss in a big dry towel for the last half of the drying time. The dry towel wicks out the moisture, and re-distributes it, so it actually takes less time to dry than it would without the dry towel. And since the dryer is now empty of most of the wet clothes, I am saving even more drying time, and saving more money!

There are some added advantages to hanging damp clothes. I like how some things like T-shirts come out as if they have been pressed. It’s faster to hang T-Shirts than it is to fold them. And they stay nicer looking hanging in my kids’ closets, instead of getting crushed in the drawers!

I remember when my oldest son first started dating, one girl’s mother said, “He always looks so crisp and pressed!” I never pressed his T-shirts or jeans. But by hanging them halfway wet, they always have a crisp pressed look. “Oh yes, I’ve been slaving over a hot iron all day!” Ha!

Answer 10

heating and cooling use the most energy so keep your thermostat higher when AC is on and lower when heat is on. Consolidate laundry so you use the dryer less. Be conservative with use of hot water in kitchen and bath. Don't leave refrigerator door open longer than you must-keep seals patent.
A full freezer uses less energy- this plus all the other suggestions made.