Reduce Your Electric Bill

Some appliances use far more electricity than others; therefore it’s probably more effective to reduce consumption for the higher-wattage appliances first. Here’s a quick list of things you can do to help reduce your electric bill by saving in areas:




Cooking
--Use a smaller appliance to get the job done (i.e. toaster oven, microwave, or slow cooker instead of conventional oven)
-- When using electric stoves, turn burners off a few minutes before the end of cooking time and allow the residual heat to finish the cooking
-- Keep burner reflectors clean to maximize efficiency
-- Minimize peeking in the oven—temperatures can drop up to 25 degrees F each time
-- Keep lids on pans to cook food more quickly
-- Don’t preheat the oven except for baking
-- Use glass or ceramic cookware instead of metal and lower oven temperature by 25 degrees F
Refrigerator / Freezer
-- Clean the cooling coils in the back once or twice a year
-- Keep freezer at least moderately full to increase efficiency
Heating / Cooling
-- Reduce thermostat in winter and increase in summer – you save 6 – 8% off the heating or cooling part of your bill for every degree, and the US DOE says that heating bills account for approximately 44% of the average family’s electric bill
-- Clean air filter for AC unit monthly when in use
Washer / Dryer
-- Wash / rinse in cold water to save on heating costs
-- Use dryer’s feature to sense when clothes are dry to avoid overdrying
-- If your home has a electric hot water heater - put a timer on the hot water heater. Then set the timer to turn on and turn off when not needed. Remember - if you are not at home then shut it off with the timer settings. If you take a shower every day around 7:30 am - then have the hot water heater turn on around 7:00am and go off around 7:40am. I don't use much hot water - so my hot water heater only comes on for 2 hours per day. It saves me plenty... Also remember that using a water saver shower - will help lower your water bill and lower your electricity bill by not having to heat up extra hot water.
-- If you only stay in one room most of the time - then put a small window air conditioner in that room. Yes - turn off that huge 240 volt central air - and turn on that small 110 volt window air conditoner. It makes sense to only cool one room and not turn on that huge central air unit. Now - if you are running 2 or more window units it would be cheaper to run central air for the entire house.
-- To really save - unplug everything not in use that uses energy - clocks - microwaves - anything that you don't need.
-- To stop your meter from turning - turn off everything from the breaker box that you do not need. Remember to keep your refrigerator on.

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