Simple Tricks To Cut Your Electricity Bills

Is Your Energy Bill Eating Too Much of Your Money?

Put it on a Diet!

 

It’s no surprise that given the recent increases in the cost of electricity you’re trying to figure out ways to save on your home’s energy bill. The logical place to look is your living costs, and a major cost of living is your electricity or gas. Perhaps your electricity bill is much larger than it needs to be. You might be running up your electricity and gas bills in ways you don’t even notice.

 

When you do things that waste energy, you’re also throwing away your hard earned. Decide you’re going to fervently find and address all the ways you’re leaking energy and cash at home. The enjoyable result of your diligence will be some relief from those large electricity and gas bills!

 

Check out these hidden ways to reduce the energy drains that eat up your funds:

 

1.    Leaving your mobile phone and electronic tablet chargers plugged in all the time. This might come as a shock but did you know that even if you don’t have your mobile phone or tablet plugged in at the other end, these chargers are using energy?

 

2.    Speaking of chargers, if you leave your mobile phone charging after it reaches 100%, it continues to waste valuable energy. So, avoid plugging your mobile phone in at night before you go to bed. If you do, it will be draining wasted electricity all night.

 

3.    Not changing air filters often enough. Have you vowed to change your air conditioner filter but then don’t do it? Your air conditioner is trying to get precious warm or cool air to you through the vents. But the air can’t get through to be dispersed in your house if your filter is all clogged up with dust bunnies, pet hair, and dirt.

 

Set your mobile phone alarm to go off on the first of each month to remind you to change those filters. If appliances don’t have to work hard to heat and cool, you’ll save money on your electricity.

 

4.    Using appliances that have a low Energy Rating. You can find the red and yellow labels on many energy-efficient appliances, like fridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, and more. One star is low energy efficiency and ten stars are high.

The more stars an appliance has, the cheaper the appliance is to run, helping you save on energy bills.

Even though it probably isn’t economically feasible to run right out and replace all your major appliances with new appliances, it does make sense to replace old, worn-out appliances with energy-efficient products. Insist on high Energy Rating products when you’re shopping for new appliances.

Use the ER label to compare the energy efficiency and running costs of appliances before you buy.

 

Check out our Energy Efficient Appliances: Buying Guide

 

5.    Having standard incandescent light bulbs. Do you avoid compact fluorescent bulbs? Did you know that in Australia lighting is responsible for around 10 percent of the average household electricity bill?

You may be able to save hundreds of dollars each year by simply replacing the 3 most used lights around the home with LEDs, you would be pleasantly surprised with the results on your energy usage. LEDs use around 80% less energy than older ones and last longer too.

 

6.    Appliances, gadgets, lamps, televisions, and more that stay plugged in on standby all the time. Although it might be a hassle to unplug and plug in things frequently, electricity providers stress you can reduce your electricity bill and lower your energy bills if you only plug in items when you’re actually using them.

 

It might be a bit more exercise to plug and unplug things, like the coffee machine, toaster, lamps, televisions, and the like. But you stand to save energy use and save you money if you do so.

 

7.    Water heaters are set at too high a temperature. Sure, you like to take a hot shower, but does it have to be that hot? The recommended setting for thermostats is 60°C for storage hot water systems and no more than 50°C on instantaneous systems.

 

Think about the fact that if you set the temperature of your electric hot water heater to higher, then it is constantly trying to keep all of the water it holds at that temperature, not knowing when you’ll need the water. You can see the amount of energy that would waste and cost you money.

If you’re away for more than a week, turning off your storage hot water system will save power. When turning it back on allow time for the water to become hot enough to kill any bacteria that may have grown. The water must remain above 60°C for at least 35 minutes before you can safely use it. It could take several hours to reach this temperature.

 

8. Switch To Save. One of the easiest ways to reduce your electricity costs is to compare different energy offers. There are free and independent government energy price comparison tools and websites. They can compare the offers from all of the electricity retailers operating in your state to help you find the best and cheapest right energy offer based on how much energy you use.

Contact your energy retailer and ask if you are on the best deal and whether they have any rebates or assistance. Their number is on your bill. Changing your energy companies can be the simplest way to save.

 

When it comes to saving on your electricity bill, consider doing something about the above drains on your electricity and wallet. You’ll feel great when you do what you can to reduce your energy consumption and budget expenditures every single day.

 

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