Electricity Price Comparison

Welcome to the 2nd part of our series on saving electricity. In our 1st post we talked about actually purchasing some energy saving products to reduce your electrical bill.

4.) Free Spots: Everybody likes to spend some time outdoors and going and visiting places. The problem is when you’re on a budget its hard to do that. Its not much of a savings to shut off the lights and electric-hogging devices at home and head to a venue where you fork out $20 or $30 to spend the evening.

A better alternative is to visit places like libraries where you can get some great reading and relaxation done. Lets take that idea a step further – you can stop by on your way from work and spend an hour or two. No need to worry about electricity usage there – most libraries have free wi-fi, loads of new books, newspapers – think of it as your relaxation spot. You also save on your electricity bill.

5.) Phantom Users of Electricity: Whether you’re at work or at the library – you might have many devices plugged in at home that are consuming electricity even when they’re off. Take those out. Unplug them. That can include appliances, cell phone chargers, laptops, printers, and much more.

6.) Screen Saver: More and more we’re on the Internet and with Facebook and Twitter the usage has just been growing and growing. Make sure you have a screen saver set on – ideally at 3 minutes that’s about long enough for you to be able to surf without the screen going dark and nagging you.

7.) Light moves with you: Get into the habit of switching off lights if you leave one room and go to another. What’s the point of keeping the light on in the kitchen or the living room for the next hour or two before you come out to shut it off.

8.) Look and look again at your bill: Make sure all is okay with your bill. Check previous bills. How many kilowatt hours have you been using. Discipline yourself. Reward yourself for reducing the cost. When the next bill comes and its lower – treat yourself.

9.) Make use of the windows in your house, let natural light in, don’t turn on the lights if you don’t need it.

10.) Take advantage of the air and natural ventilation. Don’t turn on the A/C if you don’t need it.

11.) Clean your filters. Dirt and dust in your filters and prevent proper air flow. You’ve got it on for 2 hours when 1 1/2 might have done it. What’s that extra half-hour going to cost you in terms of $.