If you’re frustrated by how much money you’re spending on gas and electricity in your home, there are some changes you can make that will reduce those power bills for you. Here are some of the best ones.
Avoid Appliance Use When Possible
Are there some appliances you use at times when you don’t need to? If you’re just drying a small amount of clothes, you may not need to use the dryer. Instead, you can hang the clothes out to dry. Take advantage of sunny days to avoid using the dryer and just hang out your clothes instead.
Whenever you’re washing clothes, try to wait until you have a full load of laundry to wash rather than doing a bunch of smaller loads. You’ll use less water and less electricity.
The kind of light bulbs you use can affect how energy efficient you are being. Try using LED bulbs or bulbs that are classified as energy efficient to cut down on your power usage. Also make sure that you turn off lights in rooms that you’re not using and shut off all lights before you leave the house. If you would like to have a light on for when you come home, consider installing a motion detector light by your front door.
There are lots of devices and sources of power in your home that you could be turning off when they’re not in use. Try turning off plug sockets and power banks when they’re not being used. Consider unplugging televisions, video game consoles, and computers when you’re not going to use them. Some of them draw power at a low level continuously so that they can start up quickly or so they can do background tasks even when they’re not turned on.
Save on Heating
Are you using your heating system too much in your home? If you close the curtains at night, that will help keep the heat inside your home.
Make sure that you defrost your freezer on a regular basis. If it ices up, you’re going to create heating and cooling issues in your home. Check the settings for your fridge and freezer to ensure that they’re not set too high or too low. Having the right setting on these appliances can keep them from wasting electricity.
Also make sure that your home is properly insulated. This may be something you need professional help to do, as it can be tough to find all the places in your home where cold air can leak in and hot air can leak out. Inspect your home carefully for any cracks or spaces that connect the inside and the outside of your home. Try to have your home properly insulated and sealed before winter sets in. That way, you can get a head start on those expensive winter power bills.
Check for Grants and Benefits
If you’re having trouble paying your power bills or you want to see about reducing them, you can check to see if there are any government grants or benefits available to you. Anyone with a disability, a low income, no income, or other financial difficulties may qualify for grants and government benefits. The rules for who qualifies for these do vary from time to time, so even if you have been denied grants in the past to help with your energy bill, check back each year to see if there are new laws that will provide benefits for you.
Check for Meter Problems
There could be a problem with your electricity or gas meter that’s causing your bill to go higher than it should. The meter could be recording the wrong numbers, and while this is rare, it’s definitely worth checking out if you suspect that you’re getting a proper reading from the meter. You don’t want to pay for power you’re not even using. In some cases, a power meter or heating system can be set up improperly so that it records power consumption in the wrong way. Make sure that your heater, heating system, and power meters have all been installed professionally.
Consider buying a smart energy monitor or smart meter. This will help you see what you’re spending and where your energy consumption is coming from, and it can allow you to cut your power bill by using energy more efficiently. There are lots of modern devices you can buy for your home that will help you be more energy efficient, including monitoring equipment that cuts off power sources when they’re not being used. These devices can pay for themselves very quickly, as they help reduce your energy usage and decrease your power bill.
Clean More Efficiently
A lot of people waste money in the way they clean their home. They may use too much water as they clean or they may run appliances for much longer than they ought to. You can cut your power bill down by having your home professionally cleaned by NYCHouseCleaners. Skilled cleaning crews know how to work efficiently and clean your home in much less time than it would take you to clean. Having your home cleaned in this manner may cost you more overall but can help to conserve energy, if you’re looking to be greener in the way you live.
When you clean, try to use buckets or containers of water rather than running water. This is a very energy efficient method whether you’re washing dishes, scrubbing walls, or in just about any other way you use water.
Consider whether your cleaning methods are energy efficient. If you tend to clean in a scattershot method, you may be leaving appliances and lights on in rooms you’re not actively working in. Try to work efficiently from one room to the next, finishing a single room before you move on to another one.
When you’re cleaning your car, make sure you’re using a bucket as well rather than a hose. This saves water and power, as you won’t be using the water pump continuously as you wash the car.
