As a Texas girl I’ve had my fair share of hot summers. I remember on multiple occasions my mom talking about the electricity bill jumping dramatically in the summer (in our defense, yes we were using the air more, but my sisters and I were home from school and spent most of the day inside… so yes a house with 3 girls watching MTV, Can’t Hardly Wait, cooking ramen and blasting air conditioner would use more electricity).
Yes there were more factors contributing to the bill increase then, but now things pretty much stay the same in my home (As far as energy usage and time at home). Despite that, the past 2 months my electric bill has been more than double my average cost. So that had me wondering, what in the world can I do about this?
Here are 4 tips to save on your energy bill.
Do a last call for electricity: Every night make a point to check every room of your home for any electronics they may have been left on by mistake. Look for things you can unplug that don’t require resting when you plug them back in. For example; if you have cable you may have to wait for a reboot if you unplug your cable box but the T.V. monitor itself probably doesn’t need to be effected.
Even if certain products are turned off they still tend to use power. Look for signs like the little red light your television might display next to the Power button to let you know it’s off… guess what, that takes energy to light up.
Crack kills…. your energy bill
One of the biggest energy bill killers is bad instillation.
Check the bottoms of doors and windows for any cracks or gaps. When you have openings in your doors or windows it allows the cool air to slip outside and more hot air to flow in, requiring your cooling system to have to run longer to cool. You can typically seal these cracks yourself and it is inexpensive. Just visit your local hardware store and you can find door/window tape for as little as $6.00.
(If you are a renter check with your landlord and see if maintenance will seal cracks for you.)
Be Efficient, Be, Be Efficient!
Looking for Efficient Energy Star products, like light bulbs, can save you a lot in the long run. They may be more than bargain prices or the same price as traditional brands, but they tend to last longer and cost less to use. According to energy.gov they use 25%-80% less energy than traditional bulbs and can last 3%-25% longer.*
Take it off
Nelly had a point when he said, “Take off all your clothes” (okay probably not all of them). I don’t know how many times I’ve come home to find a roommate blasting the air-conditioner but wrapped up in a blanket. You need a blanket? You’re cold? It’s because you have the air conditioner on 69 degrees! Adjust the thermostat to your clothing not the other way around. If you have 3 blankets on your bed, lose two instead of trying to even out your body temperature fighting the air conditioner at 72 with 3 blankets! Chances are you would feel just as fine with one blanket and the system at 76. (Same goes for winter, don’t walk around in a tank top and blast the heater.)
What are some ways you try to beat the heat in your home during the summer?
Edited by M.L. Scarbrough
*Statistics from Energy.gov
Rebecca
Our house came with an energy reader thing. It shows us how much electricity and water we use! It seems to be the highest appliances are ones that generate heat. The kettle uses loads!!! X
Dia
That very true. That’s why I try to only do laundry when it’s early in the day (thus cooler outside) or as I’m heading out so I am not suffering inside lol
Rebecca
Great list. I like the Last Call for Electricity. I’m doing that all day long because my kids leave lights on in every room they enter.
Carol Cassara
I love that most utilities will do a free energy audit if you ask them. These are all excellent tips and good reminders. Save money when you can, so easily!
candy
Great suggestions, hubby drives me nuts with leaving on lights.
Angela
So is it strange that I refuse to use air conditioning?? I hate fake air and would rather live in the heat and have my body adjust to that. That said I’ve never lived in places where it gets above 100 fahrenhiet
cori
Some electric companies will come out and do an energy audit and give you some advice on how to save more money on your bill. Carpet also keeps the home warmer than tile. I’ve noticed that since we moved from out carpeted apartment into a tiled house. 3000 sq. ft. house electric bill at times is the same at when we were in out 1100 sq. ft. apartment.
lauren | talk of the trains blog
I need some serious tips! We are in Georgia and I have to keep turing it on from heat to cool to heat to cool and I’m terrified of what next months bill will be! I’ll use some of these tips and be ready for summer!
Bree Hogan
I’m an energy monster in summer as our air con unit is a real dinosaur and uses up so much power (which = $$!). But as we are renting we can’t really do too much about that. We try to just use fans and open windows wherever possible and only use the cooler when upstairs cooking dinner.
Amber Starr
Great tips! We have fans that go over our upstairs heat registers. They turn on when the heat or air come on to help force more air to the upstairs. It helps tremendously. We have to turn the heat and air on less because of it.
Jennifer Corter
I do a lot of what you mentioned up there, especially last call for electricity. Plus, we unplug the appliances we don’t or won’t be using anytime soon.
Dia
It’s such a small thing to do but so helpful. It adds up.
Dia
Oh summer and cooking the heat gets bad here in Texas. I try to get cooking done early or late when the sun isn’t beaming down.
Dia
Haha the carpet thing is a catch 22 , my allergies have greatly improved since I moved into a wood floor place.
Dia
Fans can be a huge help. Sometimes it’s not heat it’s more just need for air circulation.
Dia
Hahha I’m in Texas so I know what you mean. Good luck this summer 🙂
Dia
You’re in Canada right, Angela? Lol come to Texas you will totally change your mind.
Dia
I don’t do that but my bad habit is leaving cabinets open lol
Dia
I’ll have to see if that’s an option at my apartment. Thanks Carol.
Liz Mays
Running our ceiling fans helps to keep the cool air moving around the house. Also closing the blinds on the sunny sides of the house helps too.
Victoria Stacey
I am so guilty for using a blanket with the A/C! But I like to be cold when I sleep, so we usually keep the A/C off during the day if we can and only have it on at night. Our building is really well insulated and we’ve been really lucky to not have to use the heater much this winter at all!
Dia
My issue is I get hot in my sleep so I have to make it colder than needed when i fall asleep or waking up sweating later.
Dia
Yes my blinds and curtains help a lot.
Chris
WORD! I’m in Oklahoma!
Chris
Great List!!! I live in Oklahoma, so I feel your pain! I use a programmable thermostat that we keep at 80 degrees when we leave the house for work and an hour prior to us returning it drops to 77. That’s where we keep it when we’re home. I no longer use the dryer except for emergencies, that cut my bill significantly! Curtains and ceiling fans are a must for us and we try to either cook outdoors on the grill or use the crock as much as possible. The oven is a serious electric bill killer, lol. Between all this, we also prorate our bill, use OG&E’s Smart hours and my bill each month is $89. We can live with that!
Dia
Man, Chris you are doing great! Luckily for me my apartment only gets super hot or super cold at night (or that might just be my body temp) so I can normally leave things at a room temp until bed time.