What the Energy Company Does Not Want You To Know
I lowered my energy bill without solar panels. Almost everyone thinks that the only way to lower your energy bill is with solar panels. This is not true. I was about to lower my energy bill by 23% and now I’m going to share with you exactly how I did it.
Insulate Windows – Making sure that your windows insulate correctly is probably the single best thing you can do to lower your monthly energy bill. If you have single pane windows your money is literally going out the window. Single pane windows are really bad insulators. Changing to double pane windows will save you a ton of money but they are expensive. You can put up heat sealing drapes in the summer and storm windows in the winter. This will save you a ton of money. You may want to take a room by room approach. The first room you should do this in is the family room.
Ventilate Your Attic – Hot air needs to escape from your attic. If your attic air vents become clogged, which they will over time with dust, your attic will hold the hot air and ultimately making your air conditioner work too hard. You must clean your attic vents to allow the hot air to escape from your house (remember, hot air rises). If your attic does not have air vents you need to go down to your hardware store right now and buy some ventilation kits and put a few in.
Air Conditioner Filters – A dirty air filter makes your air conditioner work much harder which means it takes more energy to do its job. Changing your air conditioner filters once a month will save you money off your monthly energy bill.
Range Filter – The fan above your range uses a ton of energy. If the filter in your range hood is clogged with grease, the fan will work a lot harder to do its job and cost you a lot of money. You should change your range filter once every 3 months depending on how much you use it.
Save Money By Turning Off Lights – You should go around to all your lights and lower the wattage on all your bulbs. Do not leave lights on when you leave the room. Do not use outside lights. A single outside light that uses a standard 60-watt bulb will cost you about $10 a month. Forget using dimmer lights as they don’t save you very much. Use fluorescent lights whenever and wherever possible.
Learn How To Calculate Energy Costs – You need to learn how much the things in your home are costing you in terms of energy cost each month. The formula is wattage / 1000 x hours used per day x your kWh charge (found on your monthly bill) / 30 days in a month = total cost of energy per month for that appliance. Let us do an example problem. If you are using a central air conditioner for 10 hours per day during the summer, it is costing you: 4000 / 1000 x 10 x 0.15 x 30 = $180 a month.