As we enter into the new normal, and gas and grocery costs continue to rise, it has become increasingly important to rely on same day online loans just to survive, but there is also an important and prevalent need for all of us to save money wherever we can. Utility bills are a major expense for virtually all of us and can be a great place to begin saving so you do not have to rely quite so heavily on same day online loans.
Learning how to save money on electric bill may be a lot easier than you think, and at the end of the day, you will probably be quite surprised at how much money you save each and every month. As prices continue to rise despite claims that inflation is not a concern, even as we pay a substantially larger percentage of our income for the basic necessities of life, it is important to save money on your electric bill, save money when buying groceries, and maybe even learning how to supplement your income.
Exactly how much money you can save on your electric bill may be open for debate, and will depend on how big your home is, and how much you are willing to do in order to cut utility costs, but the savings can be substantial. Add in the ability to save money when shopping, and save money in other areas of your life such as impulse purchases, and you could literally end up with thousands of dollars extra at the end of the year.
Yes, Turning off Your Lights is Important
Turning off your lights may seem like it is not a big deal now that those evil incandescent light bulbs are a thing of the past, but seriously, turning your lights off when nobody is in the room is still a good way to begin cutting down your dependence on expensive electrical energy.
If you live alone though, or if you have children, there may be occasions where lights are still desirable, even at night. For these occasions, there are a great many possibilities for more discreet lighting that does provide some sense of security, without increasing your electric bill at the same time. There are a great many led lights that can be charged via USB on your computer, effectively using energy the computer would be using anyhow, and charging them up well enough to ensure they last all night.
For outdoor lights, there are even more options including self-charging solar lights. Solar energy may be lacking in some terms, but can still serve as a viable means to power virtually anything that is low amperage. In fact, the author had a large property off the grid where virtually everything in the home was wired with simple speaker wire and ran solely on solar power.
Granted, not everyone that lives in the city is going to want to install smaller, more discreet solar panels, 12 volt direct current power, and wire their house with speaker wire, and use xenon headlights, 1156 bulbs, and car stereos and DVD players in their homes, but it would be an effective way to greatly reduce your power bill.
Be Careful with the Thermostat
Despite the onslaught of the technological revolution, not everyone has a home full of smart devices. Still, central heating and air are a very common feature of many homes these days. How crazy would it be to run your heater in the summer though, or to run your air conditioning in the winter? Yet as crazy as it may sound, this does happen with a surprising frequency.
If you do live in an area where there is any meaningful difference between day time and night time temperatures, it is disturbingly easy to turn the selected temperature too high or too low. The end result is that as the temperature drops in the summer, and you have the thermostat set lower than the ambient temperature, the heater will kick in.
The converse is just as true in the winter, and air conditioning coming on because the temperature inside the room where the thermostat is located heating up to above the temperature setting as that glorious sunlight pouring in through the windows. If nobody is home to catch such a simple change in temperature, the end result can be an electric bill that is even higher than normal.
While it may not be the most comfortable solution, especially when you first get home, turning both the central heating and the central air conditioning off while nobody is home will definitely result in a reduced electrical bill. Oddly enough, this brings up other cost savings that can be created by not turning off some appliances.
Should I Turn My Window Air Conditioner Off?
It almost sounds like a rhetorical question I am sure, but the real answer may surprise you. Without getting into too much technical detail, it requires heat to cool things down, and this is due to the need for compression. A small window air conditioning unit used to cool a single room, costs barely more than an electrical fan as long as the compressor does not have to kick in.
Leaving a small air conditioning unit running in a single, small room that is kept closed for the most part, will provide you with both a respite from the heat, and a general savings when compared to central air conditioning that is working to cool down the entire house, even if those vents are all closed. The same principals hold true for refrigerators and freezers.
How to Save Electric with Refrigerators and Freezers?
Remember that it takes heat to cool things down. Just like the air conditioning units though, the expensive part of running the refrigerators and freezers is when the compressors kick in and begin running. This however, like the window units, is a problem that is easily solved.
How much ice water do you drink? How much ice do you use? Probably not enough to merit filling up the refrigerator or freezer with it, but oddly enough, that is exactly what you should do. The emptier space there is in these appliances, the more air is released and the more air that has to be cooled down every time the door is opened.
When you open the door and stand there luxuriating in the cool air, you fill the refrigerator or freezer with summertime air that now has to be cooled down, meaning that your electrical bill will rise accordingly. When these appliances are full, there is less air to be released, and less airspace that has to be cooled down.
If by chance you are one of those extremist savers or just exceptionally cheap perhaps, you may also want to consider buying two chest freezers. One will serve as a freezer and the other will work as an alternative to a refrigerator once you have adjusted the temperature settings accordingly. Why? Hot air rises and cold air falls, and when you open the lid at the top of the freezer, there is actually less air escaping, and it does not have to run the compressor as long.
What is a Dead Short to Ground?
Most electricity generates heat through the principles of a dead short to ground. Think of an arc welder if you have ever seen anyone welding. Effectively this means that all the wires come together and it gets really hot. Anything that heats up is going to cost you a lot of money. We have already shown you some basic tips to get around this, but there are other considerations as well.
Slow cookers tend to cook slowly over a longer period of time, so may consume less electricity. Coffee pots however, are one of the most expensive items in any household as people make a pot of coffee and leave the pot on for hours at a time, occasionally even forgetting to turn it off when they leave home. While you may or may not want to drink cold coffee, leaving that coffee pot on is definitely not a good idea if you are serious about saving money on your electric bill.
How Do I Budget for My Electric Bill?
Do you remember that last totally outrageous electric bill you got and how amazed you were that your bill could cost so much? Yeah, that one. Now budget for that amount each and every month. And when you have taken all these steps to save money on your electric bill, just think about how happy you will be with all that extra free money?
How Much Money Can I Save on My Power Bill?
It would be like getting a no-interest, same day loan, without having to pay it back. Add those savings to the 25% to 45% you learned how to save on groceries. Now add in the 5000 dollars or more you saved by giving up all those impulse buys, and believe it or not, even the average person can save a whole lot of money. If you can discover how to earn additional money online, it can add up to some serious holiday cash made instantly available at the end of the year.