DIY Electricity Saving Hacks That Can Help You Save Money

All of us are thinking of what are the things that we can do to save our money from time to time.  On the other hand, electric bill is one of the most expensive expenses of almost all households out there, especially as when summer and winter months comes, we use electricity more often by turning on our air condition to cool our unit and our heater to heat our unit. So here, you can learn the DIY hacks that you can do to save your money and reduce at least half of the cost of your electric bill. Of course, everything you will learn here takes a little time but it costs you nothing.

1. Turn Down Your Thermostat

A lot of us sleeps well when our home is a bit cold. So, turning our thermostat down at night can help us save money. Because the temperature outside during night is much cooler, you just need a little amount of energy to cool the house. A lot of houses will still be cool all day and you won’t need to turn on your air condition until the afternoon. You may not really care about the change in temperature but when your bill comes, you will notice that it’s much lesser.

2. Change Your Filters Frequently

Changing your heating and cooling furnace filters frequently and maintaining it accurately is essential. Changing the filter frequently helps you to prevent it from not working properly. Dirt-blocked filters hinders your system from working properly and it uses much energy as well. Changing filters frequently helps you to cut down energy or electric bills that will surely help you save money.

3. Unplug Your Electrical Devices When it’s Not in Use

When you’re not using you’re electrical appliances, unplug it because even though you have turned them off, they still continue to consume electricity if they are still plugged in. Americans spends at least $50 yearly on the electric devices that are plugged in but not in use. To save money on electric bills, always remember that if you’re not using some of your electric devices, unplug it.

4. Throw the Towel in

Yeah, you heard it right, when you’re drying the next load of your laundry, throw a dry towel together with your laundry. The towel will help absorb the excess water that most of the washing machine leaves on your clothes and will totally reduce the time you will spend drying your clothes. Even though you have a gas dryer, you can still save money on your electric bill. The lesser your dryer runs, the more money you will be able to save.

5. Do Not Use Hot Water on the Electric Washers

When you wash clothes or is doing other tasks, always use cold water to lower your energy usage. Mainly, your clothes can become smaller with the use of hot water. Also, hot water in the washing machine is not hot enough to help you kill the germs. Your dryer can kill the germs than the hot water on your washing machine. Heating the water on your washing machine is the biggest probable misuse of electricity and energy in your house.

6. You Should Wash Full Loads of Laundry

Always operate full loads of laundry despite of what type of washing machine and dryer you have. You can save as much as $30 yearly if you wash one less load of laundry a week.

7. Turn the Lights Off

This is the rule we always hear from anyone but a lot of us always forgets to do this. Whenever you leave your room or during day time, always turn off the lights because you will not need it. It will just be a waste of electricity.

8. Let Your Dishes Dry by Itself or Air-dry Them

Turning off the heat dry of your electric dishwasher can save your electricity for over a year. It’s main use is to just steam your dishes. Why would you spend money on steaming your dishes to dry, when allowing them to dry on their own is free?

9. Set the Right Temperature of Your Refrigerator or Freezer

Always make sure that you set your freezer or refrigerator to the right temperature. Setting your refrigerator to about 40 degrees is much better. A lot of people will say that you should set them between 35-38 degrees but you don’t really need that for if you keep the temperature of your fridge too low, it can make it less effective and it will cost you more money.

10. Change Your Bulb to LED Bulbs

LED bulbs can last up to 25x extended than incandescent bulb. LED bulbs may be costly but when you compare it to the cost of electricity of the incandescent bulb, you can save more. LED bulb use less electricity unlike the incandescent bulb.  The average time length of LED bulb is about 25,000 hours unlike incandescent bulb lasts only for about 750 hours. Think about how many incandescent bulb you will buy over the run of 25,000 hours. Also, the expense of buying incandescent bulb alone is shocking plus the expenses of the electricity. You will pay $240 for 25,000 hours when you use incandescent bulb as compared to $40 when you use an LED bulb. You can save thousands of money over a period of a decade when you change your light to LED bulbs.

11. Inspect Your Windows

Always make sure that your curtains and blinds are closed during sunny days to keep the sun out and to prevent you from using your air conditioner. On the other hand, always make sure to keep your blinds and curtains open during winter months and let the sun comes in to help you warm your house naturally.

12. Inspect Your Windows and Doors for Air Leaks

If there are leaks around your window and doors, it will cause your cooling or heating unit to perform overtime. Make sure that the doors and windows are perfectly closed and there should be no leaks that will allow the outside air to come inside the house.

13. Choose Your Appliances Wisely

If you’re planning to buy new appliances, always make sure that you are getting the energy saving models. When you purchase your appliances distributed by United States look for the ENERGY STARS certification, this is only means that the appliances you will buy is energy efficient. The United States Department of Energy tested it and meet the requirements for energy efficiency.

14. Reduce Dependence on the Electric Appliances

Think about what appliances do you really need to use. Instead of using your dryer for your laundry, use clothesline outside. This will help you save a lot of electric energy and it will also help you save money. Instead of using your vacuum to clean your house, try to sweep the floor. Well, if you have carpets, you still need to vacuum but only once in a while. Using vacuum everyday uses a lot of energy. Lower your dependency on small electric appliances. Stop using hair dryer/blow dryer and instead, let your hair dry with the help of the air/wind.

15. When You Cook, Use Pressure Cooker

You can use pressure cooker not only for the convenience it gives but also because it can help you save time and energy to cook. You can cook in less than half of the time as well with it.

16. When You Bake, Turn Off the Oven

When you bake, it is best to turn your oven off ten minutes before the required times for your cooking. Just let the heat that’s still in the oven to finish baking the food.

17. Always Cover the Leftovers

Whenever you place uncovered leftovers in your refrigerator, the liquid can cause the vapor to be diffused and it will add to the workload of the compressor and it will use more energy and electricity as well. So, it is best that you always put covers to whatever leftover you put on your refrigerator for it not to waste more energy or electricity.

18. Close Your Doors

When you plan to go out of your room, always keep your door closed. It will help your heating and air conditioning appliances save electricity. You can also turn off the vents in your room to help lessen energy expenses as well. You can just turn on the vents when you go back to your room.

19. Change Your Roof Color

Homeowners who are thinking of changing the color of your roof should color it with white or bright colors. Researches shows that black or darker roof colors can really attract more sun. House with white or brighter color roofs are much more likely to have lesser air conditioners bill with up to 20 percent lesser than the house with black or darker roofs during the hot sunny weather months.

20. Have the Best Insulation in Your House

If you don’t insulate your house perfectly, all of your money spent for heating and cooling your house can get away through your doors, windows and even through your roofs. Always exert an extra effort to make sure that you have enough and perfect insulation in your house.