How To Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

This blog will help you learn how to cut back on your electric bill, save money, and help the environment by reducing your energy consumption and saving valuable resources.

One of the things I hate paying for most is electricity! The amount of electricity I use does not correlate with my happiness or quality of life, so I prefer to keep it low. I first started cutting back my electricity costs when I got my first electric bill. Later on, I had more extra money and started to slip back into wastefulness. Once I became more conscious about the environment, I realized that I could still save on my electric bill even if I wasn’t broke. Even if you don’t pay your electric bill, you can still reduce your use to help reduce carbon emissions and save valuable resources. Here are some tips that I use. After two months of implementing them, my electric bill was cut in half.

1.Quit using the dishwasher. Unless you’ve just had a party with lots of dishes to do, it’s probably not that big of a hassle to wash the dishes by hand. Try washing them right after eating instead of putting it off. The food won’t be stuck to the plates. If you have a dirty pan or something caked on, add a little soap and water and let it set overnight.

2.Turn off the lights when you leave the room. This one is simple and has been heavily stressed, but for a reason. The exception to this one is with traditional, long fluorescent lights. Unless you will not be using them for 30 minutes, it will require more energy to start them up than it does to run them. For newer bulbs and CFLs, the downtime needed to overcome the startup cost is a mere 30 seconds. In other words, if you’re going to be gone for more than 30 seconds, turn off the light. If you’re using the long fluorescent lights and will be gone for more than 30 minutes, turn off the light.

3.Multi-task while cooking. If you’re cooking a lasagna that takes over an hour, cook some other things in the oven at the same time. You don’t have to eat it all at once. You can put what you don’t want into containers and freeze or refrigerate for later.

4.Unplug your energy vampires. Everything that is plugged into your wall is using energy, even when it’s off. That flashing light on your DVD player isn’t lighting up on its own. Even appliances without lights will draw a minimal amount of energy. Unplug these after each use. If this is inconvenient, you can also plug your appliances into a power strip and switch it off after each use.

5.Adjust the thermostat. If it’s summer, turn the temperature up a little and shed a layer of clothes. If it’s winter, turn the temperature down a little and bundle up. Heating and cooling costs are a huge expense. If you would like to see for yourself, go watch your electric meter while someone else turns the AC on and off.

6.Line-dry. Don’t waste your time and money on the dryer when you have sunlight for free! If you live in a place that prohibits hanging out clothes, try hanging a few of them in your windows. Even if you’re only line drying a few things, this will still cut back on the time and energy needed to tumble the rest.

7.Hand wash. Try hand-washing if you have the time. No Impact Man washes his clothes by putting them in the bathtub, filling it with water, and stomping them. The action is similar to that of a washing machine. You’ll burn calories, save money, and you can do larger bathtub loads than machine loads.

I’m out of time for now, but come back and look for more energy-saving tips later! You can also check out my other blogs on reducing impact and spending around the home below. The link gives tips for saving resources in the kitchen, and it links to my original blog about money saving tips in the bathroom.

Go here:
http://www.progressiveu.org/100350-saving-money-and-being-green-kitchen

As always, don't forget to rate if you liked it (or even if you didn't!) I would love to hear your feedback. Thanks for reading!

Share this post on:

 •    •    •    •    •