Tips for keeping the electricity bill lower?

Here in Latvia, you send the company your reading when they ask for it and they calculate how many watts you eat up during the month and figure out an average sum for you to pay each month. I have been doing pretty good with this since I am the only one here. The two things that are constantly running of course, are the water heater and the refrigerator.

I have to keep the furnace high as I am always cold. NO tips.

We have both gas and electric for heat. Mainly because the gas is not really efficient. I am not good about turning everything like computers off, at the switch. Hubby is not as penny pinching as I am. On the other hand, he is watching television while under a blanket and I am at the computer in one of my jackets.

First, unplug anything you're not using. If the item is turned off it still sucks power from the outlet. So unplug it! I use cold water only when I wash and that saves some money. Get a fan, turn it on low, and point it at the ceiling if you don't have ceiling fans. Warm air rises and stays there so you need to circulate it. No sense in heating the ceiling and freezing near the floor! Cover the insides of your windows with plastic and be sure they are well sealed. You'll be surprised how much warmer it is. Plastic lets the sun's heat in but stops the cold air through any leaks. Go to the store and spend a couple dollars on outlet insulators. They are fireproof thingies that you put inside the outlets then screw the covers back on. You'll notice a difference if you paid attention to the temperature directly around the outlet before vs. after. Don't make your own, homemade ones aren't safe. If you don't want to do that, tape around the outlet to keep out the cold air between your outside and inside walls. I hope you're able to save and be warmer! I've included a picture of the outlet insulators since I so poorly described them.

I've switched out most of our CFL bulbs for more efficient LED bulbs since moving. Most of our laundry is done on the cold setting so we're not using the water heater for it. Lowering the temperature of rooms is a good suggestion, but unfortunately isn't something we can get away with anymore. The cold aggravates my health problems, even if I bundle up in warmer clothes. Besides... I just realized that we have gas heat here, not electric like we did at our last place. So that doesn't affect it anyway! I do keep the air conditioner turned up a bit higher in the summer, though. When the kids go out to play on the patio they leave the door open, so I've taught them to turn off the A/C beforehand to keep it from running.

The light bulbs that twirl around, I think they are led bulbs, save a ton of money. One lasted me five years and I ran it at 12 hours a nite. They say if everyone used at least one, there would be enough energy to power NY for ten years. Or something like that. My electric bill was a fraction of what is was before.

I always turn off lights after others and try to keep most off. Furnace is kept no higher then 69, unless we have to sit around then it goes to 70. I do wear sweat pants and a hoodie over a shirt to try and keep warm. We put plastic up to some of the windows in the winter.

Don't wash clothes or use a/c or heater during peak hours.

hot water bottle better than radiator

My computer and wifi are shut off at night or when I'm not going to be using it. We keep the thermostat pretty low for winter but we wear more clothes., when we go to bed it goes lower. We have a couple of heaters that are kind to electricity, one in my studio so I'm warm enough to paint, the other in the family room and its turned on when someone is there to enjoy the warmth. Good advice on this post.

Well, um, we try to turn off some light in some rooms. The air conditioner has to run for 8 months when we're not in Florida. What can I say? Our food bill is much larger than our electric bill.

I turn my computer off when I leave, and all lights, which I need to start doing when I'm not in that room, and I lower the thermostat at night, but it's been so cold, that even lowered the furnace came on all night. I'll be glad when this cold snap returns to normal temps. Which the weatherman said about two weeks before we reach the teens.

I read that our electricity may go down. If that is the case that is great news. Our electricity very expensive here.

These are great tips, thanks for sharing

Even when things are not in use, you still spend a little money if things are left plugged in. I would never recommend unplugging a computer, but I sometimes unplug my microwave, and on occasion my lamp. Before I go to bed, I let the heat run for 30 minutes to an hour, and then turn it off before I go to bed so it doesn't kick on. I am like you in that I just like on layers of clothes, and I wait until it is freezing in the winter before I turn my heater on. Also, turn up the temp in the fridge during winter to use less electricity. I hope that helps someone.

wow thats really thrifty. ours is lower from not switching the heat on much but then we are in Florida where most is used summer months to keep cool

I only do cold laundry. Ever since my mom switched to cold only, she says she saw big changes in her electricity bill! We try not to use the heater/AC so much - but we are in Southern CA so that's possible. When it's what we think is cold inside, we just bundle up - and I open the windows during the day to bring the warm air in. When it's hot like during summer, I keep the windows open from early in the morning and that helps to keep the temps lower indoors.

I always turn off the computer, the TV and everything else attached. I do not keep the temperature lower because my husband has a health problem, he feels the cold very much, he needs a warm house.

And believe it or not, your refrigerator uses the 2nd most energy, so make sure that the fan of the motor is always clean and that the temp gauge inside is not set on the coldest setting @1hopefulman . Any appliances like the toaster, microwave and coffee pot are unplugged when not in use too. The hot water heater does not need to be any higher than 120 degrees. Some people have it clear up to 140.

We don't have a heater but have air conditioners, and I use them sparingly. The water heater is switched on for five minutes for taking bath. I switch off the computer when I don't use for more than an hour. I make it a habit to be environment friendly and I always think of previous generations who survived with so little - siva