How can I save on my electric bill?

Answer 1

How can you save on your electric bill?

1. Lower your thermostat.
2. Check your windows and doors for cracks and openings.
3. Check the hot water heater and make sure it is not working on 1 element. These three things are the most important for a quick fix.
4. Insulation would be another factor.

Your electric hot water heater is usually about 1/3 of your bill during the winter months. The hot water heater usually has 2 heating elements. If one element’s is burnt in half, the other will run all most all the time trying to keep the hot water hot, which in turns runs your bill up. It is easy to check and replace. Turning off the hot water heater does not save you electricity unless you are going to be gone for several days. It takes a long time to reheat a completely cold hot water heater. Another thing to check is the temperature settings. You can turn the heat down some on the hot water heater if it is too hot.

Another thing to check is to make sure all your windows are close tightly, storm window are close properly, and if the caulking are glaze is missing from around the window pane have them re-glazed or caulked as soon a possible. Heat escapes very easily and quickly thru cracks and openings around windows and doors.

Another thing is to lower your thermostat some. It doesn't have to be cold in your house, you want to be comfortable, but not at the expense of paying a high light bill. For every 1 degree you raise your thermostat to stay warmer, you also raise your light bill by 3%.

Answer 2

Keep anything that has a standby mode, like a tv or computer on a power strip. Turn off the strip when you're not using the item.

Get fluorescent lights.

If your water heater is electric, lower the water temperature.

Insulate your house. Adding another 2-3 inches can save you hundreds of dollars. This is also the easiest thing to do.

Replace very old appliances. A 15 year old fridge will use as much electricity as three new ones. Same for an electric clothes dryer.

Look for energy star appliances, and for a 70% efficiency
computer power supplies.

Your computer will use $34 a year being in standby
Your TV will use $160 (plasma or HD) in standby
Your printer will use $12
VCR $10
DVD player $8
Game console $25 ( and some people have three of these)
Anything with a small power brick adds $2 a year. (phone, clock, etc)

So get those power strips and switch off.

Answer 3

The electric bill comes more higher in the summer. The refrigerator keep it at a norm where it won't pull so much electricity to keep things that cold. Like if it only goes from 0-10, keep it at 5. And put it on save energy not reduce moisture. Stop using the air conditioner so much, put that on save energy as well and on low, try to not open the door to a room as much, or better yet; shut it off and open all windows and or doors, if you live in a bad neighborhood then not recommended. Have computer on stand by if you feel a need to have it on, because every time one turns it on; it pulls a lot to get it going. Stop being afraid of the dark there is no boogieman, and turn on your lights when only needed. Always remember, that when you turn something on. It will always pull the most as if one were to keep it on stand by or off all the time. Some T.V.'S come with stand by options as well as game systems, radio's computers. Get those energy savings light bulbs the do help out a lot. The light bulb as we know it will become extinct. Energy saver light bulbs are in. Wear light colors to reduce heat on your body, this will in turn not give you the urge to turn on a fan or air conditioner. If need be take cold showers, a lot; like three a day if you can. That's all I can think of right now, if I think of anything else; I'd let you know.

Answer 4

All the ideas up above are great but there is a another device called a capacitor which is known as KVAR by ecoquest int., power save 1200 which could be tied into your electrical service because all electric that is consumed in the home is rated at 65% efficient, these devices that i noted above bring your electric to about 90-99% efficient which will cut your expenses from 10-50% of your electric bill.
These devices help save you money cause the home uses about 15 electric motors which are the biggest waste of energy

Answer 5

Turn off lights when your not in that room and when your not home leave a small light in the kitchen or whichever door you enter first so you can find the other lights....there are also energy saving bulbs they are coiled usually made by GE I've bought them at Sam's Club (because we buy in bulk) or I'm sure you can get them at Costco or where ever there is a store that sells to small businesses they cost more but they are supposed to save you money over time and last longer...another brand is Feit...I don't know much about them but they also sell energy saving light bulbs they look very much like the GE ones. You can also buy them in different wattages. If I were you and looking to not only save money on the bulbs and money in general I would buy the bulbs in bulk they usually come 10-12 in a pack.

Another way you can save money on your electric bill is by looking at the wattage of your appliances...how much does your hairdryer, coffee maker, alarm clock, night light etc. etc. use as far as wattage goes if your really that concerned I honestly would because some of your household appliances outdated or not may draw more energy that you previously thought...I just recently bought a new hairdryer and that alone blew my mind seeing the difference in wattage from my old one to my new one especially for how much I use it. All in all, it definitely pays to look at how much electricity the things we use everyday may really, be using us.

Another thing you can do is limit your time using these items if you don't want that extra charge on your electric bill (no pun intended) the TV included if your not watching it turn it off or find something else to do...I find if the TV is turned off and I'm listening to music on a mp3 or cd player (anything that I can listen to music on really) I am more productive. So there is another idea basically all I'm saying is stop and look at your routine and look at what you use EVERYDAY and just try to cut back or put you and others in your household on a scheduale...it is hard this time of year because of the lack of daylight but do the best you can.

Answer 6

I have an extra useful tip.. I've cut my electric bill by half ! I only run one major appliance at a time... So, when I'm doing laundry I run only the washer and while the dryer is running I'm soaking the next load of clothing until the dryer is done... It DOES take some planning and getting used to.. I also use my dryer less by hanging most of my clothing to dry and by cleaning the filter EVERYTIME I run a load...

I only run my dishwasher when it's FULL and I run it on time delay at night around 4am.. The water is heated already and NOT being used and we're asleep so there's nothing else on in the house.. Also, you may want to unplug ANY appliances NOT in use like the ones on the countertop or chargers for electronic devices I have mine all plugged into a power strip so I hit the button and I don't have to worry about "vampire" charges on my electric.. You can even go one step further and hook up television/stereo componets to a powerstrips and turn EVERYTHING off when you go to bed... I also use energy saving lightbulbs.

I try to use my smaller appliance when cooking like my toaster oven as oppossed to my big GAS oven OR using the crockpot and slow cooker to cook dinner is very energy efficient..

I also keep my thermostat set at 63-65 degrees, we just wear sweats in the house and when I give the children baths, I turn a space heater on in their bedroom 1 hour prior to keep the room toasty..... We also use a woodburning fireplace insert in the fall/winter...

I noticed a dramatic decrease in my electric IMMEDIATELY doing these things.. I went from $114.00 per month to about $75 and we have electric baseboard heating...

good luck

Answer 7

These are in order of expense.

1) When you are not at home, turn the thermostat down in winter, or turn the air conditioning off (or place the temperature closer to outside temp) during summer.

2) Turn appliances, lights, and devices not in use off, when you are not using them.

3) Switch to either LED or Compact Florescent light bulbs.

4) Check the weather stripping and door seals on your doors and windows. If they leak a lot, replace them.

5) Replace appliances older than 5-10 years with Energy Star compliant appliances.

6) If you gain enough exposure, consider installing solar panels to supplement your current electric needs.

I hope these help. My family is all about saving energy, and my sister works for DHEC (Department of Health and Environmental Control).

Answer 8

There are a lot of little things you can do which in the end add up to a lot.

The first and biggest way to save on your electric bill is live in a home that's conjoined with another. I live in a condo, where I've only got about 24 square meters of wall that's exposed to the outside. All of my windows and doors are high energy savings.

All of my appliances in my house are electric. Water heater, furnace, dryer, et. al. For the appliances, I turned up the temperature on the fridge a bit, as well as on the freezer...then I turned down slightly the temperature on the water heater.

After doing that, I changed out the nozzle on my shower to an energy saver. I never run out of hot water!

Next, I only wash my laundry in cold water.

Then come the light bulbs. I have switched out every single bulb in my house with a CFL from a regular incandescent...and I only ever turn on one light bulb at a time. When I have people over I'll splurge a bit but for the most part I'm here in the dark...or with natural light during the day.

The single biggest source of my electricity savings definitely comes from my heat. People say "turn down the temperature when you're not at home". No. The biggest way to save money, is to turn OFF the unit when you're not at home. When the house gets down to the temperature that you have it lowered to...it'l run just like it ran with the temperature higher...so you might get one hour of energy savings depending on how well insulated your house is. Speaking of my heat, I only turn it on when I want it warmer. If I'm home and am comfortable, I leave it off. I also turn the unit off completely every night when I go to bed.

The final aspect of my energy savings comes from my electronic gadgets. All of my electronic equipment is attached to a power strip that can be completely turned off when not in use. Rather than using the residual energy to keep the remote control sensor running, I just turn off the power strip and no extra energy gets through.

My electric bill wasn't terribly high before I started making the changes...it was only about $70-80. Now that I've completed the transition (and am still looking for more ways to improve) my bill rarely goes over $20 per month.

Answer 9

There are quite a few ways to save on your electric bills. You may have to spend to save, in a way.

One thing you can do is to analyse if your home is suitable for installing alternative energy generating device, like solar panel farm, wind generator or water-driven generator. This may cause you money upfront but youo can technically take your home off the national grid and be self-reliant on your own electricity.

If this is not possible, look for ways to cut down on electricity usage. Changing from incandescent bulbs to energy saving bulbs will be a good start. You can save hundreds of watts just doing so in a day. There are different light hues if you need ceratin effect in a room, even with these type of bulbs.

Next you want to look at your aircon. This draws quite high load, so cutting down on use will be good. One way is setting a comfortable temperature rather than just making the room cold. You can save when using the compressor less. If it is hot in your place, consider using a timer to turn on and off the aircon system so that you can have a house ready cooled when you get home, and shut down when you are out.

Next will be your electrical appliances like tv, radio, dvd player, game console. Studies have shown that these still draw quite high current even while on standby mode. So if you can, hook them up to a switch panel and shut them down when you are away. Completely.

Other thing you might want to look for is your heater system, also a high current eater. Use a timer or set a temperature suitable for your use. This will have a thermal switch that will turn on your heater when it gets below a preset temperature, but you do not need this when you are out.

Other energy saving idea will be using motion detector to turn on lights when you are in the room and switching off when you are away. This can be hooked to a thermal sensor too so that in event you are keeping still, like reading, the lights do not get cut off suddenly.

Probably you just need to look around your house and see what electricity use is required and plan using timer or preset control to help you save. All over the house.

You may be surprised at what you can save.

Answer 10

We do many of the ones listed above, with good results.
Our stove is gas, which save a bundle, and, since we live in Florida, we use our grill year round.
We, also, had a timer installed on our hot water heater; it is set to heat water for 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening, instead of all day, when no one is home.
We have night lights (the sensor type, come on at night, go off during the day) at various locations, thru-out the house, so we don't have to turn on the over-head light(s) every time we enter a room.