Summer has just started, and if you are like most homeowners you are trying to find ways to reduce your electric bill. Fear no more – we have gathered the best tips on how to do it. Just make sure to read through the end to find out the absolute best tip for lowering your power bill.

1. Get a Programmable Thermostat

Based on the climate of your home location, there’s a big chance you spend a decent of money heating or cooling your house. Controlling the temperature with a programmable thermostat enables you to use less energy while you are out or sleeping. Don’t pay for energy that you are not using.

2. Wear Appropriate Clothing

While you are in your comfort zone, you shouldn’t hesitate to stack up a bit more in the winter or put on short sleeves and shorts in the hot seasons. Adjusting yourself based on the temperature outside can help a lot with lowering your electricity bill. It will keep you feeling cozy while preventing the regular use of the A/C for example.

3. Replace Your Air Filter

While we are speaking about ventilation, here comes the next tip – be sure to check up your air filter regularly. Its purpose is to catch dust, pollen and help with the circulation of the clean air throughout the cooling and heating system. This keeps the HVAC energy-efficient. What’s more, the replacement of your air systems helps to ensure your system is working properly. In return, you’ll be using less power which will reduce your electric bill.

• Panel Filters should be replaced every 30 days;
• Pleated Filters – every 3 to 4 months;
• Media Filters should be replaced every 6 months;
• Permanent Filters should be cleaned once monthly;

4. Keep Your Fridge and Freezer FULL

Open refrigerator doors are one of the biggest energy consumers in your house – nearly 7%. You probably know that you shouldn’t let the door of your refrigerator or freezer open. When you do that – the air escapes and your fridge has to use more energy to recondition the air.

But the less popular advice is to actually keep your refrigerator full. By doing that the food and drinks you put act as insulation. This lowers the amount of time needed for the fridge to cool things off.

5. Do NOT Put Warm Food in the Fridge

Warm food will raise up the temperature in your refrigerator. This will cause a kick into high gear to regulate it back to normal. If you want to protect your fridge from working too hard, you should let the food cool down before storing it. If you want to really reduce your bill put this advice in your checklist.

6. Go Low-Flow During Showers

Installing low-flow showerheads means less water flowing, which equals to less water to heat. For example, a low-flow showerhead flows at around 1.6 to 2.5 gallons per minute, while a traditional shower head is 5-8 gallons per minute. You can try taking shorter showers too.

7. Line Dry Your Laundry

Use Mother Nature to dry your laundry and set up a clothesline. If not possible, you can always leave the clothes hanging on a drying rack or shower rod. If you do 4 laundries a week and don’t use the laundry machine you will be saving about $65 a year.

8. Only Wash Full Loads

Stop running your washing machine or the dishwasher half empty. Maximum capacity = least electricity used.
Many utility companies have plans that offer discounts for using electricity to off-peak times. The hours may differ, but if you change the power usage to outside the peak times, you can save some money.

9. Use Cold Water for Laundry

Experts say that heating the water is accountable for 90% of the power usage from your laundry machine. In fact, switching from hot to cold water can reduce your energy bill by $22 yearly.

10. Use Dimmer Switches

Dimmer switches give you more control – when you are reading a book you require less light than when you have to cut the vegetables for your salad. Install dimmer switches, so you can use only as much light as you need.

11. Cut Out Phantom Energy

No, there are no ghosts in your house, don’t worry. But it might be true that something is sucking your power up like a vampire. It’s actually all the electronics that are turned off.

Your little brave toaster for example could be using 876 watts while on and 0 when off and unplugged.

You must remember that there’s a difference between turned off and unplugged. The TV, PC, router, and all the kitchen appliances continue to work, even while off! To lower your power bill significantly, use power strips and turn them off when they are not used.

12. Upgrade to LED Lighting

Changing from regular to LED lighting is a lot more efficient, in fact, they use nearly 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. They might be a more pricey investment but can save you quite a bit of money in the long term. Check the graph, the numbers speak for themselves:

13. Turn Your Lights Off

An old Yorkshire man lies on his deathbed, breath laboured, visibly weakening.

“Is my wife here?” he asks.

“Yes Bert, I’m here standing next to you.” she answers.

“Are my children here?” he asks.

“Yes, dad, we’re here.” they answer.

“Are my grandchildren here?” he asks.

“Yes, grandpa, we’re all here.” many small voices answer.

“Then why is the light still on in the kitchen?”

An old joke, but valid as ever if you want to cut electricity costs. A simple thing such as turning off the lights when you don’t need them is essential to reduce the power usage related to lighting. What’s more, it also affects the energy consumption used to cool your home because most of the light bulbs produce heat.

14. Keep the Sun Out

Direct sunlight can quickly turn up the heat, especially in the summer. A working strategy against it is to block it. Make use of the curtains and blind the sunny side of your home. This will make your ventilation system work less and be more efficient.

15. Check Doors and Windows for Leaks

An audit of your doors and windows will show if there are leaks, openings, and broken seals. If these openings appear in your home and go undetected, they can contribute to the sum of your power bill. Check ALL your ducts and vents to make sure everything is in order.

To sum up, only some of the advice on the internet gives you the perspective of long-term thinking, making LED installations, doing audits, and upgrading your home. The trouble is the majority of the tips you will find on the internet are about playing the “energy cop” game – take shorter showers, reduce ironing time, wash dishes by hand, etc. But this isn’t right.

Above all, this is YOUR HOME. You haven’t worked 40 hours a week so that you are dressed like a polar bear while enjoying time with your spouse, running after your children to unplug their computers or waiting for days to use the laundry machine because it is not full yet. This is NOT the life that you want for you and for your family.

However, there is a solution… ARE YOU READY FOR THE ULTIMATE TIP?

The ULTIMATE Tip on How to Reduce Your Electric Bill – GO SOLAR.

Here are 14 reasons why you should do it:

1. Produce your own clean renewable energy, directly free from the sun.
2. Be independent and create consistent cash savings month after month.
3. Pay 30-50% less for electricity right away than what you are paying your utility company and lock low payment.
4. Forget about the trouble of the ever-increasing prices. Lock a low predictable rate that never increases. Save even more as the utility prices keep rising and your payment stays low.
5. Increase the value of your home.
6. Save the environment and leave a healthy planet for your children.
7. Enjoy a rock-solid 30-year warranty.
8. Embrace a proven technology over 50 years.
9. Don’t miss the 26% Federal Tax Incentive.
10. Stop playing the “energy cop” game.
11. Join millions of Americans who went solar.
12. Get immunity of black-outs.
13. Form a new Solar lifestyle that makes a difference and makes the world a healthier place.
14. Start the change with $0 out of pocket expenses.

Find out how much would you save by converting your home to solar. Say goodbye to high energy bills.