Cut Your Bill in Half! Here's How to Get a Lower Energy Bill

The average monthly electric bill in America is $183, which turns out to be about 7% of their annual income. How does your monthly electric bill compare?

If your bill is significantly higher than this, it’s time to look into ways you can get a lower energy bill.

Start with an Audit

Most electric companies offer free energy audits. If they don’t provide one in your area, then you can perform an audit on your own.

For reference, the average home uses an average of 867 kWh per month. This is a good baseline for your energy consumption.

Once you have your audit done, you should have a good idea of where you can trim energy use in your home.

Dimmer Switches

We’ve all heard the advice to turn lights off when you leave the room. But you can take this one step further by installing dimmer switches. Then you only use as much light as you need when you’re in the room.

Also, consider having multiple lighting options. That way you only use lighting where you need.

Update Your Insulation

One way you can maximize energy budget efforts is to check and refresh your insulation. For effective insulation, it needs to retain its original size and shape.

Over time though, insulation condenses. As it does this, your energy costs go up. So have your old insulation cleared out, any holes sealed, and new insulation installed.

Find Phantom Loads

Did you know most home electronics consume energy even though they are turned off? These electronics are called phantom users. They could be everything from your TVs, to your computers, to your kitchen appliances.

The first solution is to unplug everything while you don’t use it. This sounds a bit impractical though.

Instead, you can plug your electronics into power strips that can cut the power. Plug the power strip into the wall and all of your electronics into the power strip. Turn off the power strip, and you cut the flow of power.

Do Your Laundry Better

It is tempting to load up your washer and dryer with as many clothes that will fit. Except that this is counterproductive when it comes to both proper cleaning and saving money on energy use. When you load up your dryer, that takes away space for the air to move around the clothes. This means you’ll have to run the dryer twice.

A useful method is to make sure you leave at least 25% of the dryer empty. That way there is room for movement. Also, this is 25% before you wash your clothes as wet clothes take up a lot less room.

You should also wait to do your laundry until after 8 pm. If you take a look at your electric bill, you may notice that energy companies give breaks for usage during nonpeak hours.