5 Ways To Lower Your Electric Bill
Posted on: 11 November 2015
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Electric bills can really take a huge bite out of your monthly budget. While no one wants to live without air conditioning, heat, or all those plugged in appliances and electronic devices, most people would like their bills to be lower. Luckily, there are ways to lower your electric bill without sacrificing personal comfort. Here are five ways to do just that:
Have Your Air Conditioner Inspected
You don't have to deprive yourself of the comfort of air conditioning in order to have affordable energy bills. You should, however, have your air conditioner inspected annually (by professionals such as those from Long Beach Heating & Air Conditioning Inc), as well as any time it doesn't seem to be working properly. Regular maintenance will ensure that all the parts are in great working order, keeping it working as efficiently as possible. This means you won't have to turn the AC up nearly as high to get things comfortably cool. A good way to remember this task is to set a calendar alert for the same day as the spring daylight savings time change.
Create Closed Off Zones Around the House
In the summer and winter, close doors and vents to rooms that aren't in use. This way you aren't wasting heat or air conditioning in areas where you don't need them. Once you do this, you'll probably find you need to use your heater or AC less to stay comfortable, since the warm or cool air is more concentrated and doesn't have to go as far throughout your home.
Add Insulation
Simply adding insulation to your attic can help keep things dramatically warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. You can pay someone to add insulation, or if you're the handy type you can always do it yourself. A well-insulated attic will prevent draftiness, and help create a much more evenly heated or cooled home year-round.
Go Old School and Line Dry Your Clothes
Clothes dryers use quite a bit of energy, so by switching to line drying during the warm months you will probably notice a decent amount of savings on your electric bill. As an added bonus, clothes dried outside in the sunshine smell amazing and even tend to last longer.
Switch to LED Lightbulbs
Yes, they're more expensive but they last for so long that you will definitely recoup the cost. In addition, they use way less energy, meaning even if you're in the habit of leaving all the lights on your energy bill won't take much of a hit.
By following these steps, you will soon see your formerly steep electric bills get lower and lower.