With temperatures skyrocketing and your AC pumping, your probably seeing big increases in your electricity bill.
The thing is, turning down the AC might cause you to lose your sanity, so how can you lower your electricity bill without spending tons of money on “green” gadgets or sacrificing your comfort?
1) Keep Your Vents Open and Cleaned
As obvious as it sounds, a lot of people don’t consider that their vents might be closed. Maybe you closed a few of them on a warmer day during the winter and forgot to re-open them. Or you moved into a new rental home or apartment and assumed the vents were already open.
Take a few minutes to make sure all of your vents are open, as this will allow your AC to more efficiently cool the space and prevent unnecessary overuse.
2) Use Ceiling Fans at the Appropriate Times
Contrary to what many people think, ceiling fans don’t actually reduce the temperature of a room. Rather, the wind current created by fans facilitates evaporation of sweat from your skin, which makes you cool off faster.
With that in mind, it’s best to turn off ceiling fans if you’re not going to be in a room for an extended time (for example, your bedroom ceiling fan when you go to work). It might make only a small difference in your electricity bill, but it counts!
3) Switch Light Bulbs
Energy saving light bulbs are more expensive and switching them out will require an initial investment, but the long-run payoff will be worth it. An 18W power saver bulb is said to provide as much light as a 60W regular bulb, but, of course, it will only use 18W.
Beyond that, reconsider the number of bulbs you have in each light fixture and ceiling fan. You can probably get by just fine having only two light bulbs in a ceiling fan, rather than four or more. If you can cut out a bulb here and there, you’re saving on monthly electricity costs and costs of replacing light bulbs.
4) Use Power Strips
Your computer, phone charger, TV, gaming systems, and so on still pull electricity when they’re in standby mode. If you can see an LED light lit up on the front of a device or charger, it’s being powered somehow.
Make a habit of using power strips for your devices and turn the power strip off when not in use, especially at night before bed. You’ll never know the difference and it takes no more effort than flipping a light switch.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
