In our quest to reduce our monthly expenses, we’ve turned our attention to the electric bill. Last year we experienced a pretty substantial jump in the monthly electric bill. We live here in sunny and hot Florida so our bill fluctuates pretty drastically.  The winter months are more moderate so our costs are not nearly as high as in the summer months.  Here are some tips for you to consider that may help reduce your electric bill.Â
1. Attach a motion detector to the ceiling lights in the kids’ rooms.  (Imagine that, we can’t get them to turn off their lights. I usually am running around turning the lights off after them, which is good exercise for me, but something automatic would work more efficiently.)
2. Get dimmer controls for your lights.
3. Wash your clothes in cold water. We also wash our clothes in the evening or at night, since the energy costs are lower then. We do not do the laundry during the day as running the dryer causes the house to heat up too much (especially in the summer time).Â
4. Take shorter showers (save on the hot water).Â
5. Install low-flow showerheads.
6. Install a new water heater that is tank less. Rinnai. America’s Leading Tankless Water Heaters: Energy Saving, Forever Hotwater is the one my husband wants to purchase.Â
7. Raise the temperature for the air conditioner and lower it for the heater.
8. Close vents in unused rooms.
9. Clean your air conditioner/heater filter every month and do regular maintenance on the system.
10. Have an expert check your system periodically but be sure to get someone who is personally recommended.
11. Install a programmable thermostat.
12. Don’t leave your bathroom fan on for longer than an hour.
13. Keep blinds and drapes closed during the summer and open during winter. We installed window tint on the windows of our home that face due west. This has kept the back of the house much cooler.
14. Go to your electric utilities web site to find more energy saving tips.
15. Ask your utility company for a free in-home energy evaluation.
16. Use energy efficient light bulbs.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 Not Made Of Money : 10 Ways To Save Money // Feb 24, 2007 at 9:44 pm
[...] 9. Reduce electric expenses. We compiled a list of 16 ways to decrease electric expenses. These were inexpensive but simple items which have reduced our utility costs. [...]
2 mthorn // Feb 25, 2007 at 10:02 am
> Get dimmer controls for your lights.
This is not really an efficient way to save money.
Older (30 or more years) dimmers use the same amount of electricity and burn the excess off as heat that is not sent to the light. So you pay the same amount for less light.
Some dimmers may reduce electricity usage but use more than a bulb of equivalent light source. A 100 watt bulb dimmed to the light of a 60 wt bulb consumes about 75 watts. A 100 wt bulbed dimmed to consume 60 watts only puts out less than 40 watts of light. If you constantly have the light dimmed it is much more efficient to use a lower watt bulb of fewer bulbs.
The most efficient way conserve energy with lights is to use compact fluorescents or LED lights. A 60 watt equivalent compact fluorescent bulb only uses 13 watts.
I use compact fluorescents almost everywhere. I just got a porch bug light that only consumes 5 watts. This is excellent for something that is on most of the time.
Of course the most efficient way is to just turn the light off. I like the idea of using motion sensors in the kids room. My kid is too small to operate the light so I’m constantly turning it on and off for him. This would also be good in the utility room and other low traffic rooms.
3 Kathryn Ricotta // Jul 11, 2007 at 11:28 am
I like your ideas. I tried to use a low flow shower head and I could never get my hair clean. I ended up in the shower for at least twice as long which of course messed up the whole “saving water” idea. Oh well at least I tried. I really like the motion detector thing. Do animals set it off? With my luck the dog would go in the babies room at 2 in the morning and wake up the baby! hehe. Thanks for the great ideas!
4 Jennifer // May 5, 2008 at 3:46 pm
These are some great tips. I love to find new tips on saving money on my electric bill as mine is very high and I live in an apartment. I found some more energy savings tips from here that are really helpful.
5 Kerry // Feb 4, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I found out that unplugging things that are not in use does save on the electric bill. It is called “phantom” electricty. (Ex. Unplug your applicances and cell phone charger when not in use.)
6 Angie // Feb 14, 2009 at 8:09 am
I noticed the sensor lights mentiioned in childrens rooms a couple of times do these go off if the child is restless in the bed or only if they are up and moving around not familar with these. We also installed outside lights that have sensors that cut on when it gets dark but do stay on as long as it is dark so that is all night long. I have a feeling this is costing us greatly but my husband works late late nights and it is just my daughter and I and I feel it is a saftey issue does anyone have a suggest that is lower cost to use and maybe just a lower cost bulb that we could use. We tried the flouscent bulbs but they do not work. Any suggestions would be appeciated.
Thanks
7 Angie // Feb 14, 2009 at 8:32 am
It’s me again I also have a question about nightlights do they use alot of engery by we have several in our home and I was just wondering if this was a high energy and costly engery sucker or not?
Thanks
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