If that’s not cutting those bills down enough, there are some easy things you can do around the house to cut your energy costs even further. All it takes is some thoughtfulness and a few minor lifestyle adjustments, and you can save a surprising amount of money on your next utility bill.
Reduce detergent
Take a moment to consider how you do laundry. Do you just pour detergent in with reckless abandon? Then you’re not only wasting detergent (which costs money to replace)—you're also wasting energy. Using too much detergent in your washer makes the machine work harder, uses more water, and might even require extra loads to get rid of that slick, slimy, too-much-soap feeling.
While some loads of laundry might come out better if you wash it in hot water, these days, you can wash just about everything in cold—and doing so can save you a lot on your energy bill. As much as 90% of the energy your washer uses goes to heating up the water, so there’s no doubt that washing as much as you can in cold water will make a dent in your bills.
Clean your fridge
Your air conditioners, furnaces, and other appliances have air filters that keep particles, debris, and pet fur out of their inner workings. If you haven’t cleaned or replaced those filters in a while, your appliances might be working extra hard and extra hot, draining more energy. Change those filters (or at least clean them) regularly to make sure you’re not wasting money—changing air filters on your furnace can save you $150 annually, for example.
Skip heat-generating appliances
All that heat has to be dealt with when you’re trying to keep your house cool, so using these appliances less or at different times can help save energy by making your home easier to cool down. Using heat-generating appliances (e.g., the oven or dishwasher) at night when it’s cooler and using alternative appliances (e.g., cook with the microwave instead of the oven when possible) reduces the waste heat your climate control has to pump out.
Extra tip: Don’t leave your clothes in the dryer for hours (or days) so they become a wrinkled mess that now need to be dried again or ironed, wasting additional energy. By grabbing freshly-dried clothes immediately and folding or hanging them, you can avoid that scenario.
Use the dishwasher
Whether you’re heating or cooling a home, a central system using air ducts means there are vents throughout the house where the cold or hot air enters each zone. If these vents are blocked in by furniture or other home decor (like heavy curtains), they can’t do their job very well. Your furnace or air conditioning will have to work extra hard to maintain the temperature, using more power. Auditing your home to ensure that all the vents are clear will save you money in the long run.
Install motion sensor lights
Leaving lights on in a room you’re not using is just draining electricity from the grid and money from your account for no purpose. We all forget to turn off lights from time to time, and sometimes you need that light to stay on until you’re out of the room to see where you’re going. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that lighting accounts for about 6% of household energy use, so keeping those lights off as much as possible can have a big impact on your bills. Installing motion sensor lights where possible can help, because you won’t have to think about it: The lights come on when you’re using the room, and go off when you’re not.
Turn down the water heater
If you’ve never paid attention to your water heater’s thermostat, now’s the time. If it’s set higher than 120º, you’re wasting energy. Not only does a higher setting increase your risk of getting burned, it’s hotter than you probably need, and it’s costing you as much as an extra $61 per year.
Use off-peak energy
You can also contact your utility company to find out if they offer an “off-peak” or “time of use” plan. Under these plans, electricity costs more at peak times when people are using a lot of it—say, the middle of the day on a hot afternoon—than at lower-use times (at night, when temperatures cool and air conditioners are turned down). If you adhere to a rigid schedule and use your appliances only during the off-peak period, you can save as much as 40% off your energy bills.
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