Reduce Your Electricity Bill With These Simple Tips: Part 1

Aug 15, 2017 | Electricity Bill, Energy Saving Tips

Reduce Your Electricity Bill With These Simple Tips: Part 1

It can be a scary situation when that PECO bill shows up in the mail, whether in the winter or summer months of Southeastern, PA. Thankfully, there are simple energy saving solutions you can do that can reduce your electricity bill so you can keep your hard-earned cash in your wallet. Let’s take a look at some of the things that will help you save energy around the house.

Ways to Reduce Your Electricity Bill and Save Energy

 

  1. Switch Your Washing Machine To Cold Water

This isn’t one of those “bubba tales”. According to Energy Star, 90% of the energy used for the laundry machine goes toward heating up the water. Some people believe that using hot water cleans clothing better. WRONG! When using cold water detergent with cold water, your clothing will clean the same, if not better, than using hot water. 

Setting your washing machine to wash your clothing in cold water as opposed to warm and/or hot water reduces the amount of energy, saving your dollars. According to coldwatersaves.org, a hot/warm wash/rinse setting costs $265 a year. When you switch to cold/cold wash/rinse setting, you can be spending $16 per year! (based on electricity at 15¢/kWh, water heated electrically, and excluding the cost of water consumption)

Fun fact: When using cold water instead of hot water 4 out of 5 times to clean your clothing, 864 pounds of CO2 emissions are cut out per year.

 

  1. Keep Your Refrigerator And Freezer Full

When you keep your fridge and freezer full, it helps regulate the temperature inside. When you have cold food and containers touching each other, it helps maintain the coldness, allowing for the fridge or freezer to run less. With that said, don’t put hot food in the fridge. The heat that radiates off of the food fills the fridge, and the fridge will need to work harder to cool everything down.  

Other fridge/freezer saving tips:

  • Keep the door closed
  • Use something to cover the food. The refrigerator compressor will need to work to reduce the moisture coming off of the food, which uses more energy.
  • Clean the coils
  • Check and maintain the seals around the fridge and freezer

 

  1. Install Dimmer Switches

To reduce your electricity bill, a great idea is to add dimmer switches for your interior lighting around the home. Not only do dimmer switches save on the longevity of your light bulbs, but they also use less energy. By dimming a light bulb, the amount of electric current is lowered, reducing the amount of power. Save energy and money by only using the amount of light you need by dimming a light bulb. Simple as that.

 

 

  1. Switch To LED Bulbs

With an upfront cost higher than a halogen incandescent or CFL bulb, LED bulbs are still the winner in terms of energy efficiency and light bulb longevity. And with the prices of LED bulbs continuously falling, it will be the smarter option when changing out your old bulbs.

 

recessed LED bulbs - reduce your electricity bill

Recessed Lighting with LED bulbs

 

  1. Install Ceiling Fans

With air circulation from a ceiling fan, you can reduce your electricity bill in the summer months by keeping your body cooler. By feeling cooler with the wind chill effect that a fan produces, you can put your thermostat up a few more degrees so your air conditioner won’t work as hard.

 

 

  1. Eliminate Phantom Power Usage

Even when your electronics and devices are turned off during the day, they are still using electricity when plugged in. This is called phantom power. According to energy.gov, phantom power makes up 5-10% of energy usage in a home. This can cost homeowners up to $100 per year. In order to reduce your electricity bill by eliminating phantom power usage, take these simple steps:

  • Use a power strip with an ON/OFF switch in rooms that have devices and appliances plugged in that aren’t always powered on: living room area- TV, game console, sound system, etc.
  • Switch to ENERGY STAR rated appliances that have low standby power when plugged in
  • Unplug devices and appliances that aren’t used on a daily basis that can be easily plugged in and out without needing to be reset

  1. Don’t Use The Heated Dry Setting On Your Dishwasher

As with the washing machine, the heated dry setting on your dishwasher uses the most energy when heating the water. Instead, reduce your electricity bill by not using the heated dry option, and allow your dishes to manually dry. Also, only use the dishwasher with a full load of dishes. 

 

There are so many things that a homeowner can do to reduce their electricity bill, we can’t fit it all in one blog! Join us next week for more energy saving tips and tricks to save you cash.

Sources:

energy.gov

coldwatersaves.org