How many times have you looked at your home energy bill and felt baffled by the number after the dollar sign?
Every day the tiny actions you make play a huge role in the price of your home energy bill. But don’t worry—the smallest habit changes can easily give you more money in your pocket.
Don’t play the fridge game
Believe it or not, you use up a lot of energy by not knowing what you want to eat. On average, people spend about 10.4 hours per year staring at an open fridge—a major waste of energy. All that time will only leave you with a mediocre snack and less money to spend on a better one.
Wait until you have a full load
A bad energy habit that you may not think of is running the washing machine or dishwasher before you need to. The more small loads you do, the more energy you waste. Wait until your dishwasher or washer is full before running them. It’ll save you both time and money.
Pro Tip: Hand wash dishes whenever you can, eliminating the need to run your dishwasher unnecessarily.
Program your thermostat
Programmable thermostats are designed to be programmed! By not programming yours, you waste energy heating and cooling your house when no one is home. Take some time to set your thermostat on a program that, for example, raises the temperature to 77 degrees from 9am to 5pm, and then lowers to 72 degrees when you get home. The perk here is that you don’t have to remember to do anything—just set the program once and go on about your day. Your wallet will thank you later.
Unplug electronics
Most people are notorious for leaving their cell phone, laptops, or other electronics plugged in long after they’ve reached 100 percent—but the bad habit doesn’t stop there. Any electronics that can be unplugged when not in use should be. This includes lamps, hair dryers, coffee pots, or fans, anything and everything that doesn’t need to be absorbing energy all day shouldn’t be. The few seconds that it takes to unplug the toaster will leave you a lot happier with your energy bill.
Pro Tip: Plug your electronics into power strips. This way, when you’re not using those objects, you can just shut off the strip. Energy is instantly saved and you remove the hassle of plugging and unplugging multiple cords.
Falling asleep with the TV on
Want to save up to $55 a year? Then stop falling asleep while watching TV! This bad habit usually happens when you’re tired from a long day but are forcing yourself to still watch your daily shows. When you fall asleep on the couch you could end up there for hours, letting your TV waste energy while no one is even watching it. When you’re tired just go to sleep instead of trying to stay awake.
Pro Tip: Set your TV with a sleep timer—it’ll automatically turn off after a certain amount of time, just in case you fall asleep.
Training yourself to have good energy habits will make you, and your bank account, feel better in the long run. So take a few moments to practice these tips, then watch your costs go down.
For more energy-saving tips and information to help take control of your energy consumption, check out the home energy tips section of our website or call us today at 1-800-427-8545.