How to Cut Down on Electric Bill
Millions of people now have frantically typed how to cut down on electric bill into their desired internet browser in the desperate hope that they can finally start to save some money. At large, people are simply starting far too late.
That doesn’t mean to say that you can’t make immediate savings if you’re late to the game and you’ve been paying elevated costs for years, but the key is to start early. Are you ready to get the answers you need for a future free of utility related stress? Let’s get to it.
What Costs the Most on Your Electric Bill?
By the end of this post, we’re determined to reveal the secrets that are going to allow you to cut down on electric bill charges and lighten your wallet while reducing the burden on your head space in the process.
Luckily, it’s all about simple changes. Once you understand why certain areas of your home are draining so much energy, you can then start to alter how you use them and make enormous savings. We’ll now look at the items that are draining your power the most.
Heating and Air Conditioning
Even when you’re using this resource effectively, it’s still going to be one of the major expenses you face throughout the year considering it caters for about 46% of your total consumption. But when you’re using it ineffectively, that’s when you’re headed for a whole world of trouble.
It’s all about effectively reducing the pressure on your system and therefore the energy required to make use of it. We’ll soon outline some small tweaks that will help to make a massive difference. It’s all about using your system sparingly while ensuring that it can operate optimally when you do.
Lighting
Lighting has to be one of the areas where people are applying the least common sense and therefore paying massive financial penalties as a result. Lighting takes up about 9 percent of all of your residential energy use.
Any effective how to cut electricity bill usage guide needs to address this crucial area. In the upcoming tips section, we’ll outline how you can cut down on lighting use for lower annual costs.
TV and Entertainment
We’re all becoming increasingly engaged with electronic entertainment, so much so that it caters for about 4% of our total energy consumption. That’s simply an average, though, and it’s a great deal more for some households.
This is why it’s crucial that you optimise your usage. As per all of the other high expense areas listed in this section, we’ll soon tell you how to make the most of your entertainment technology while not breaking the bank in the process.
Heated Water Use
If you’re looking for one of the ultimate how to cut electric bill in half solutions and you’ve got to the point where you’re losing sleep over your energy consumption, your water heating could easily be to blame as it caters for 14 percent of your total use.
We’ll soon address a few easy to make changes so that you can cut down on your consumption, but if you’re the type that showers or bathes too often and for too long, you’ve probably already got part of your answer.
General Appliance Devices
Taking up a whopping 13 percent of our overall energy consumption, it’s easy to understand how misusing appliances can easily lead to overspending when we least expect it. Luckily, with the application of a little common sense, you can easily bring costs down in this area.
Whether it’s your fridge, dryer, kettle, or microwave, we’ll share some practical tips shortly to give you a helping hand in reducing your yearly expenditure.
Tips for Cutting Down on Your Electric Bill
This is where things start to get interesting. You know what’s costing you the most money, but now we need to figure out how to reduce that consumption and bring your utility costs down.
Luckily for you, the answers are all here waiting for you in our ultimate cut electric bill by 75 percent one-size-fits-all approach to taking the fight to your utility company and finally achieving a little financial freedom.
Tip # 1: Don’t Use It If You Don’t Need to Use It
One of the most costly mistakes that people are making is that they’re simply using appliances and other energy consuming devices when they don’t need to be.
Ask yourself if you need to make use of an item before flicking the switch. Can you just dress warmer instead of using the heating? Can you leave an item on the side securely sealed instead of congesting the fridge more? Just think about it!
Tip # 2: Switch It Off!
One of the major bill drains is the fact that many people simply aren’t turning items off when they don’t need them. This goes for lighting and general mains switches. We’re all creatures of habit, and if we’re used to leaving everything in the “on” position, we’re costing ourselves a great deal of money.
It drains energy when plugs are left on standby. Try to ensure that all sockets are switched off when you don’t need them anymore.
Tip # 3: Don’t Use It for Too Long
We’re all guilty of having long baths or showers from time to time. But if you saw the real world impact this was having on your bill, you might start to cut down on your usage time and frequency a little.
Try to make sure that you only leave the shower or hot tap running for as long as is necessary. Every second of heated water being channelled through the system is a drain on your resources.
Tip # 4: Switch to More Efficient Energy
It’s time to use smarter energy. Additions to a home setup like smart meters and solar power can sometimes be a little costly up front, but they’re saving you so much money in the long term that it’s unreal.
Invest in smarter, more efficient means of accessing your household energy and you’ll thank your lucky stars when your bill starts to reduce. Smart meters in particular offer incredible insight into our usage habits and can lead to immediate changes.
Tip # 5: Replace Your Old Technology
Whether it’s a television or a fridge, the older the items in your house are, the more energy they require to operate. Whilst frequent replacements can seriously ramp up expenditure, you should at least try to replace items every few years to minimize the impact on your consumption.
Try to think about the long-term savings as opposed to the short-term costs when you’re faced with purchasing new appliances and entertainment technology.
Tip # 6: Do Tasks More Economically If You Can
Tying into one of our previous how to cut down electric bill pointers is the all-important question, “Do I need to use this item to achieve this result?” There’s often a much more cost-efficient low energy consumption way of achieving the same goal.
When it comes to clothing, for instance, can you use a washing line instead of a dryer? Can you do at least one hand wash of your dishes or clothing per day? Can you use a ceiling fan instead of air con for a while and spare turning on the system on this occasion?
Asking questions like this is the key to making savings.
Tip # 7: Make Sure Your Technology Can Be Used Optimally
If your air conditioner vents are crammed with dust and your fridge is bursting at the seams, you can’t use them effectively. Consider how all of the technology in your home is supposed to function for maximum effect and ask yourself whether or not it currently can.
If the answer is no, then it’s time to make some adjustments. The tiniest of changes will optimise efficiency and lead to savings. Just by allowing something to work in the way it’s supposed to.
Tip # 8: Make Use of Backyard Revolution
We’ve previously mentioned solar power as being an incredibly effective power alternative to traditional mains power. But there’s an ingenious do it yourself solution in the form of the Backyard Revolution guide.
This ultimate how to cut electric bill guide will educate you on how to effectively create a solar array at home and arrange the panels in a zig-zag layout for maximum efficiency. Find more details about Backyard Revolution in our review.
Conclusion
You should now feel super confident about how you can make some simple changes going forwards to reduce your financial outlay on energy. None of it is rocket science. Many of the answers you seek lie in common sense and easy-to-implement changes.
We hope that by following the advice we’ve provided you with today, you can finally stop dreading the day that your latest bill arrives as thousands of others who make use of these tips already have.