Energy Bills & How To Save Money

Energy bills!  We all have them and we all want to save money on them, but it seems like the energy bills that arrive each month are still too high.  If somehow we could just lower our energy bills by $40.00 a month, we'd have an extra $480 at the end of the year to spend on a home improvement project. By investing this money, we might save even more on our energy bills for many years.

Probably the most important thing you can do to lower your energy bills is to write down what you're spending each month, both the kilowatt hours (kWh) and the dollars. One kWh equals the amount of electricity used to light a 100-watt, incandescent light bulb for 10 hours. You can't control the cost of electricity (unless you generate your own) but you can reduce how much electricity you use, and lower your energy bills.

Energy Bills: 3 Simple Ways to Save Money

You'll be amazed at how much you can save on your energy bills. I was shocked at my savings!  And the best part is you don't have to be a homeowner in order to save on your energy bills.  Even if yo're renting an apartment or house, you can cut your monthly energy bills (and save this for your down payment on a home).

1. Wrap your water heater in insulation and lower the thermostat to 130.  Water heaters use a lot of energy and anyone with an older (newer heaters are insulated) hot water heater can lower their energy bills by wrapping their hot water heater.  Electric water heaters are easier using a pre-cut insulation blanket. For oil or gas heaters, you may want to hire a professional plumber to install it. 
2. Hang clothes (or at least towels and sheets) outside to dry in the sun. Using natural sunlight and wind will lower your energy bills by reducing the amount of time your clothes dryer runs.  Even energy efficient clothes dryers use a lot of electricity so by washing clothes on a nice day, you get the great clean air smell on your laundry and lower your energy bills at the same time.
3. Turn off and unplug all appliances when you're not using them, especially when leaving home for a weekend or extended vacation.  As the graph below shows, your desktop computer, television, microwave and other small appliances, use a significant amount of energy during the year.  What you probably don't realize is all these “easy to turn on” appliances use electricity when there's an LED light illuminated anywhere on the device. We call these energy vampires and you can learn more by reading Taming Energy Vampires to Reduce Energy Bills.

These are just three quick money saving tips to save on energy bills. There are many other ways to reduce your energy bills and we're writing about them all the time, i.e. Energy Savings From Your Home Envelope. Check our library and if you want information about a topic we haven't written about yet, email us.

Share your ideas for lowering your energy bills.