Ways to Save on Your Energy Bill

Just like all the other bills you have learned to save money on like your cable and phone bill, your energy bill isn’t different. Luckily, there are ways that you can make the costs of this bill more manageable from your power and lighting, to your heating and cooling, to your water!

How to Save on Power and Lighting?

Many people don’t realize that you can save a decent amount of money by just making small changes. A small change that you can make is by swapping out your light bulbs for ones that are more cost effective. Light bulbs with the Energy Star label are meant to save you money especially when you swap out the bulbs on your most used lights! Another way to save money is to get dimmer switches. You will be able to control the amount of power you are using which means you may be able to save some extra money if you just keep the lights dim. You may also be able to save money by having your utility provider conduct a home energy audit. In some cases, you can get these done for free! These audits will help you identify other ways you can reduce your energy usage and overall save some more money.

How to Save on Heating and Cooling?

If you aren’t careful with these bills, you can definitely hurt yourself and end up paying way more than you should. There are some great ways that you can make this expense more affordable. The first is taking preventative measures. Make sure the seals on your doors, appliances, window, fridge, freezer, etc. are all working properly. If you have a leaky seal, then you aren’t properly handling your energy! However, if you find any type of leaky seal then the next step is to fix it as soon as possible. You will be able to improve the efficiency of your cooling and heating systems so that your energy will be used properly. You should also make sure that your fridge and freezer are set to the right temperature. You want to have your fridge at 38 degrees Fahrenheit and your freezer at 5 degrees Fahrenheit. When you have these temperatures set properly, you won’t use extra energy to have them work harder!

How to Save on Water?

Hot water is a huge expense for a majority of American homes. Some of the best ways to reduce your water cost is by reducing your water usage. A great place to start is with preventive care as well. See if you have any leaky faucets. If water is just dripping out of the faucet when not in use, you are really pouring money down the drain. The next focus should be on your showers. If you normally take a fifteen-minute shower, try to shorten it by 1-5 minutes! See how you can efficiently wash your body without wasting time. You can also replace your shower head to one that has a WaterSense label. These labels indicate that you will more effectively use your water as opposed to shower heads without the label.