Bills are flying in through your mailbox and taking your money away. The average American household spends $115 a month on electricity. This number may seem small, but it can be enough money to cover groceries or medications for a week.
If you can take any steps to reduce electricity bills, you should take them. Thankfully, you can find a few no-nonsense ways to reduce your expenses.
What should you do before you leave your home every day? How can you decrease your heating and lighting expenses? What things should you install in your home?
Answer these questions and you keep hundreds of dollars in your pockets. Here are five tips for a more energy-efficient life and a lower electric bill.
1. Shut Your Lights and Appliances Off
You may leave lights on inside your house without realizing that you have done so. Before you leave your home for the day, go through your home and switch the lights off.
Your televisions and computers continue to use power, even after you have shut them off. If you want these devices to stop using power, you need to unplug them from your outlets.
2. Install Solar Panels on Your Roof
Solar panel installation can help you eliminate your electric bill entirely. You should contact a home solar installer and see what the cost to install solar panels is.
It may cost you a few thousand dollars to place panels on your roof. Yet they will start producing electricity right away, and you don’t have to spend as much money on your bills. Over time, the savings will exceed the costs, so you will make money in the long term.
3. Lower Your Thermostat
Lowering your thermostat by one or two degrees means you will not spend as much money on heating your home. If you feel cold, put on a sweater or drink a hot beverage instead of turning the thermostat up.
4. Install Insulation
The more heat you trap in your home, the less energy you have to use to heat your home. You should place weather strips around your windows and doors, especially in your attic. You can also place fiberglass sheets or radiant surfaces to reflect heat back into your home.
5. Rely on Natural Lighting
During the daytime, you should avoid turning your lights on. Open the blinds to let the sunlight in through your windows. Install windows on your eastern wall so sunlight can enter your home while the sun rises.
Find Ways to Reduce Electricity Bills
You can reduce electricity bills today without exhausting yourself. An easy way to save money is to shut off the lights and unplug your appliances as you leave a room.
Installing solar panels on your home and turning your thermostat down are long-term strategies to save money. You can also place strips and fiberglass panels in your home to trap heat inside. Whenever you need a little light, open your blinds instead of flicking a lightbulb on.
These are some basic ways you can become energy efficient. Read more guides to saving electricity by following our coverage.
