The last thing you want to do is waste money on electricity you don’t need. When you find that your electricity bill is rising it’s natural to look for ways to cut it down. Of course, the obvious advice is that you need to reduce consumption, but what are the best ways to go about this? Here are seven practical ways to bring your electricity bill down.
Use your curtains effectively
Curtains can be the unsung heroes of your electricity bill savings and the secret is to use them effectively. Remember every morning to open your curtains so that the daylight can come in. This will heat up your home during the day. During the colder months this is absolutely essentially to make the most of the sunshine that’s there.
However, it’s also worth remembering that you can lose a lot of heat through the windows so when the sun goes down it’s very important that you should close the curtains again. This is the best way to keep the heat in your home and save money on your central heating.
Energy-saving light bulbs
The clue is in the title – energy saving bulbs will naturally reduce your electricity bill because they use less energy. The gains are relatively small and it’s not necessarily a brilliant idea to go and immediately replace old bulbs with new energy efficient ones as it would not be cost effective. But whenever an old bulb runs out consider replacing it with an energy saver. In the long-term you will benefit too as these bulbs last up to 12 times longer than ordinary ones.
Shower savings
It’s no surprise that you’ll save money on your bill if you take a shower instead of a bath – this is because you’ll need to heat up less water. But also remember that showers and baths make up most of a household’s hot water usage, so you can also make savings by simple reducing the amount of time you spend in the shower.
Clever cooking
The kitchen is a great place to save energy because it’s one of the most energy-hungry parts of the house. There are plenty of appliances here that can be used more effectively in order to save you money. Take the hob, for example, where you should try to avoid using overly large pans and make use of a lid to heat things more quickly.
It always pays when you are using the oven to avoid ever opening the door. When you do you are simply letting out the heat which the oven then has to get back by expending energy. Finally it’s worth remembering that when you use your kettle you don’t need to fill it up and it’s a much better idea just to heat up the amount of water you need.
Washing machine
You can make better use of your washing machine too. Wash full loads rather than just throwing in a few clothes at a time – a cycle will last for the same amount of time regardless how much the drum is filled. You should also look to reduce the heat setting. You can still achieve excellent cleaning results on settings as low as 30 degrees.
Say no to standby
You’re just about to head to bed – how often do you simply press the standby button to turn off the TV or DVD player? Unfortunately while they might give the impression that they are off, putting an appliance on standby means it is still using a lot of energy. In some cases it can be up to 90% of the amount it would be using if it was turned on.
Invest in insulation
Instead of continually spending money on heating your home, it’s a great idea instead to put your money into insulation. There are a range of different options including everything from cavity wall insulation to upgrading your windows to double glazing. Anything that you can do to keep the heat in your home will ultimately benefit your heating bill.
Article provided by Mike James, an independent content writer in the property industry. For the information in this post, Sussex-based electricity design house Outram Research were consulted.