Electric Bills Too High? These Tips Will Help
Summer is right around the corner, which means trips to the beach, time off from school and of course, outrageous electric bills. Don?t spend a fortune this summer on your energy costs, follow this guide to save money all around your home.
As startling as this is, remember that approximately half of the energy used in a home is for heating and cooling. Thus, taking care of these specific appliances in order to make sure that they do not suck up energy is highly important. Steps for doing so include changing the filter regularly, tuning up the equipment, and sealing and insulating the ducts. You also might look into a programmable thermostat that changes the temperature when the home is unoccupied or the occupants are asleep, for instance, thus reducing the energy used.
Household Appliances – There are dozens of different large and small appliances scattered throughout our homes, we do in many ways depend on them. Just a brief list of these, all of which eat up energy, include televisions, computers, AC units, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, lamps and many more. You can help lower associated costs by looking for highly rated, energy efficient models that take less energy to run and provide the same benefits.
Water Heater – Next to the heating and cooling costs, the second largest energy expenditure in most families goes to heat the water they bathe with and use to clean dishes. Purchasing a water heater that offers advanced technology and is an energy saver will definitely lower your energy bill.
Lighting – Many will be shocked to hear that lighting costs the average homeowner approximately 20% of their electric bill. Sure, your mother always told you to turn off the lights in a vacated room, and that helps tremendously, however you also need to remove the incandescent light bulbs that may still be in your home and replace them with CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) that mostly come in those weird spiral bulbs. Those newer bulbs use 75% less energy than the incandescent bulbs! Startling, but true, and the cost of the new bulbs will easily be made up within 6 months of usage because if you?ll remember they last approximately 10 times longer than an incandescent bulbs.
Home Electronics – Various appliances from TVs to even stoves and microwaves use digital displays that are in ?standby? power mode. When purchasing such items make sure of the energy rating that each is given, and opt for those that use less energy even in ?standby? mode!
Save money on office equipment – If you have a lot of office equipment in your home, you can be adding lots of money to your electric bill. Think about it, you have computers, printers, faxes, shredders, scanners and other pieces of energy craving equipment. Buy energy efficient models and turn everything off when it isn’t in use.
In general, most people will be superbly surprised with the energy savings experienced by following these very simple tips.
About the author: Jerry Dyess specializes in the Texas Electricity business and has published articles on Texas Electric rates.