Ways to cut your electricity bill

[BuffyGirl]

Times are tough, and I've read a lot of things that we can all do to help ourselves.

Some things I have been doing differently...

A few months ago my electric bill was around 135 or something. Which was a lot because I didn't think we used that much. So I had to find ways to change that. First thing I did was just accept the fact that the a/c needed to go up a bit. So I pushed it warmer just a couple of degrees. I really didn't notice a difference.

I get really hot at night so having the a/c up wasn't feeling great, so I just turned on the fan at night and it's been helping a lot.

Of course we all know about the light bulb changes.

So I have all that in place and it brought my bill down $17 . I decided to try something else...

I used to always turn my power bars off to conserve energy, but got lazy in doing it. I got myself back into the habit and I just got my bill and it was down another $9.

If you have any other ideas on saving for electric, etc. Please post them here. We could all use a hand.

 

[pixletwin]

A bit obvious but something we should all do... if you aren't using a room turn out the lights.

 

[Mesa]

get a programmable thermostat. pretty easy to install. will help lots.

 

[wofford29]

My in-laws were visiting last month and my father in-law decided he'd turn down my AC to 70 and never tell anyone about it. 2 weeks after he left I finally noticed it because it was freezing in the bottom floor. My bill was $195 that month. I'm thinking about sending it to his ass.

 

[ProgMatinee]

i just had my a/c replaced, the guy told me to leave the ceiling fan in the living room on even if i'm not in there because it circulates the air.

 

[ProgMatinee]

My in-laws were visiting last month and my father in-law decided he'd turn down my AC to 70 and never tell anyone about it. 2 weeks after he left I finally noticed it because it was freezing in the bottom floor. My bill was $195 that month. I'm thinking about sending it to his ass.

that reminds me of my in-laws. My in-laws use a/c 24/7/365.

They were staying at our house the week of our wedding and they were supposed to shut everything down and lock up when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. So we get back from the honeymoon and realize not only do they have the temp down to like 70, but THEY HAD THE SYSTEM ON. Not "auto"... but ON. The damn furnace fan and AC machine were on full bore for 7 days all day long.

 

[wofford29]

that reminds me of my in-laws. My in-laws use a/c 24/7/365.

They were staying at our house the week of our wedding and they were supposed to shut everything down and lock up when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. So we get back from the honeymoon and realize not only do they have the temp down to like 70, but THEY HAD THE SYSTEM ON. Not "auto"... but ON. The damn furnace fan and AC machine were on full bore for 7 days all day long.

Seriously. Who goes into another mans house and starts messing with homeostasis? I'm going up there tonight for the weekend. Let's just say I'm packing some winter gear to sleep in. REVENGE!

 

[BuffyGirl]

Is it bad that I keep my a/c at around 82/83? Lol.

 

[wofford29]

Is it bad that I keep my a/c at around 82/83? Lol.

I keep mine at 78.

 

[Biojex]

I almost never use my AC but I always have a fan on me when I sleep.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Is it bad that I keep my a/c at around 82/83? Lol.

I keep mine at 78.

I guess down south they have to still work to even keep it that high? On a 94 degree day my house is probably naturally at about 82. How hot do your houses get if you didn't have AC?

 

[LoneWolf]

Chipping in:

1 - Replace CRT monitors with LCD monitors. The CRT monitors use up more electricity than the actual computer.. The same can be said for Tube TVs.. Get rid of 'em and buy LCD/Plasma TVs! They save you a lot in your electricity bill, and they produce more awesome picture quality!

2 - Iron a week's worth of clothes in one go, instead of ironing them everytime you need to wear them. Flat irons use up a lot of electricity so that they can get warm enough to iron the clothes. If you do ironing just ONCE A WEEK instead of everyday, you can see a big difference in your electricity bill.

3 - Replace any incandescent light bulbs in the house, with fluorescent light bulbs. Not only are they brighter, but they also use less wattage than the incandescent ones - hence lesser electricity is used!

4 - Cut down on air-conditioner usage. Schedule a time of the day when you'll turn on your air-conditioner instead of leaving it on the whole day. I turn on my air-conditioner only at noontime, when the sun is really scorching! And I use an electric fan to keep me cool during the night.

 

[Darthrazz]

I have my Ac /Heat on a timer. It does help to reduce the cost a bit.

 

[sprig0701]

I've replaced all of my appliances with energy star rated ones, have replaced my oil furnace, have replaced all of my lightbulbs with energy effecient ones and am going to replace my 4 year old 55-gal water heater with one of the flash ones. After one of my kids gets a shower they bleed the thing dry, and it heats the water all night when we're sleeping. Not very energy effecient at all.

 

[sprig0701]

Oh, and do laundry after 6:00 pm.

 

[LOTRFan]

get a programmable thermostat. pretty easy to install. will help lots.

You should listen to a man from Mesa ... or Vegas for that matter.

79 during the day and 84 at night; when we built our house we used the top rated insulation and most energy efficient AC units, my bill never goes higher than $200 in the summer (the average around me is about $350), and my home is about 2800 sq ft.

Make sure you change your filters and have adequate air flow under all the doors in your rooms.

Beyond that most saving tips are things you have to do during construction - insulating your garage, etc.

 

[LOTRFan]

3 - Replace any incandescent light bulbs in the house, with fluorescent light bulbs. Not only are they brighter, but they also use less wattage than the incandescent ones - hence lesser electricity is used!

But they really don't save much money and you can't dispose of them through the normal trash; they contain mercury.

The ones I've used didn't last for ____ either, so they weren't worth the extra cost.

 

[Kabukiman]

I did all sorts of crap to get my electricity bill down. I enjoyed about 2 months of reasonable electric bills until the electric company raised their rates.

 

[BuffyGirl]

I guess down south they have to still work to even keep it that high? On a 94 degree day my house is probably naturally at about 82. How hot do your houses get if you didn't have AC?

Well, it's Texas and we're in the 100+ degrees for the next long while. It will be 103 on Sunday here. So if the A/C isn't running, it climbs pretty fast in here. I just try to deal with it. I get pretty warm sometimes, but I either turn the ceiling fan on, or just find a way to deal.

I wont lie when I say that there is the odd time in the am when I'm drinking my hot morning coffee that I turn the a/c down a few degrees till I get cold. But I know turning it up and down is a no, no.

Something else that helps me really cool down and I notice I always turn the a/c further up when I do it...(it's not get naked) I eat freezies. I have 2 or 3 and I am cold afterwords.

 

[morbidaj]

I used to leave my AC during the day at 78... and around 5pm it went down to 73. My AC repair guy told me it would be better to leave it at a set temp during all hours (nothing above 75)
Leaving it at 78 to later drop to 73 causes the AC to work harder later in the day.. to remove that built up heat and humidity.

This will be the first summer doing it.. any "savings" I have implemented have vanished since our electric company have upped the rates. We use less power but it costs about the same. Cant win.