There’s nothing more gut-wrenching than receiving an energy bill that is nothing short of a down payment on a house. It can be shocking, to say the least, and downright stressful. Yet, in many cases, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Your energy bill is a direct reflection of your total energy usage—and the only way to lower your bill is to start making changes in the way that you use your electricity by identifying where to make changes.
Take a look at some of the most likely culprits for your mile-high energy bill.
Your Appliances are Outdated
Using old appliances well past their prime may seem like a cost-effective way to keep your house running since you’re getting out of paying for new items. Unfortunately, in many cases, you may not be saving yourself any money at all, but rather hiking up your electric bill considerably.
Just because you get your air conditioner regularly serviced doesn’t mean that it’s energy-efficient. Anything that was built before this decade is probably adding a considerable amount to your total energy bill.
Older appliances use much more energy than new ones. It’s in your best interest to upgrade your appliances at least once a decade.
Charging Too Much at Once
We live in a charging era. You’re probably no stranger to chargers in your house— between your phone, your kids’ toys, and even electric toothbrushes, seems like everything is plugged in all at once. It goes without saying that all these things plugged in this will affect your electric bill. Try to unplug things as you go if they don’t need to be charged anymore.
Not only are you cutting dollars off of your electric bill but you’re also extending the life of your devices’ batteries which aren’t made to be in constant charge mode.
Leaving the Lights on
Leaving the lights on is the first and most obvious reason why most people’s electric bills are quite high. Yet, despite turning the lights off being an obvious solution, you’d be surprised how many people leave lights on throughout their homes. The end result is unnecessary energy consumed. Get into the habit of turning off lights when you leave the room—yes, even if you’re going right back in. (We’ve heard that excuse before.) You never know when you can get distracted by something and wind up wasting energy on lights that could have easily been turned off.
Using Inefficient Bulbs
While we’re on the subject of lights, it’s time to ask yourself whether you’re using the most efficient kind of bulbs. The fact of the matter is, you’re faced with a choice when you buy new light bulbs.
Are you going to choose energy-efficient ones or energy-sucking ones? If you really want to save money on your bill, consider switching out all your bulbs for LED ones.
