If you’re trying to learn how to save money on your electric bill, these tips will help you figure out how to cut unnecessary costs. We also share which appliances and accessories are using the most power.
How Do I Save Money On My Electric Bill?
Readers Question: I am new to your site and I love it. How can I save money on my electric bill? I use cold water to wash clothes. I unplug anything not in use. I close the blinds. I cut hot water off under bathroom sinks. I use ceiling fans. I am going through that hot flash thing, so my air conditioning is on 74 degrees. I wash full loads of dishes. And my electric bill is still high. Any other suggestions?
First, it sounds like you are not a typical electricity user. It sounds like you are already cutting significantly in many areas, so there may be less you can do than other people. I will address your question specifically later in this post but first I will be sharing some of the things that many people probably struggle with that cause their bills to be higher how to cut those costs.
How To Save Money On Your Electric Bill
If you want to learn how to save money on your electric bill, it is important to be aware of what things in your home use the most power and what things you use the most. Here are some common energy drains that can often make your electric bill higher.
Consider all of the things that use electricity in your house and think about how you use them. If you or the kids leave all of the lights on in the house, even when you are gone, you will send more on electricity. If you set the air conditioner to very cold and leave it running all day, it will cost a fortune.
Even if you are home, consider whether or not you actually need this device to be running as much as you leave it on.
Energy efficient appliances may not be as efficient as we think.
Tawra just recently bought a new energy efficient refrigerator and the repair man said he only buys old refrigerators. He said the new ones only save about $1 a month, but it costs a lot more to buy them. Then, if something goes wrong, it often costs a minimum of $500 just for the part to repair it. He also said the new appliances need to be repaired more often.
Air Conditioner
Air conditioning is the single largest single cause of high electricity bills for most people. If you really want to know how to save money on electricity, this is the most important thing to consider. If you run your air conditioning very cold (or your heater very warm in the winter), your bills will be significantly higher than they need to be.
Generally, if you can keep your air conditioner closer to 80 degrees you will save a lot on electricity. Mike and Tawra usually keep their air conditioning thermostat set around 78 degrees, but they try not to turn it on until it starts to get over 80 degrees in the house.
When they lived in a hot climate, they used the air conditioner more of the day, but since they’ve been in a cooler climate, they wait to turn it on until the temperature in the house gets close to 80 and then turn it off when the temperatures cool in the evening.
Even though I have mostly lived in a hot and humid climate, I have always been more willing to tolerate warmer temperatures to save money on my electric bill, so I keep it warmer.
Most people think they need the air conditioner constantly running cooler than they actually do.
If you’re finding it difficult to set it any higher, it can be helpful to set the thermostat one degree higher each day or every couple of days and your body will adjust and it will feel more comfortable. What makes it most difficult is a sudden drastic change.
To the reader who asked the question, I understand you may need the air conditioning, but air conditioning is probably your main source of electricity expense. If I don’t keep my A/C set at 80 degrees, my electric bill jumps up quickly. 2-4 degrees makes a big difference in lowering my electric bill.
I also don’t run my air conditioner the entire day. Even when it was 103 to 105 degrees for several weeks this summer I didn’t turn my air on until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I let it run all night because I can’t sleep when it is hot and muggy. Then I turned it off in the morning.
I know that’s not the way a lot of people like to do it but it does significantly help control electricity costs. I also have lots of shade trees around my house so that helps keep it cooler without running the air conditioner as much.
If you feel that you absolutely must keep the air conditioning cooler, you will need to realize that it means enough to you to keep it that cool that you are choosing to spend more for the comfort you want. It’s OK to choose that if you can afford it and it means that much to you.
Dryer and Freezer
Sometimes we work hard at the little things like turning off lights but we don’t consider larger expenses like using a dryer or having a freezer. Years ago I saved $80 (total for both) a month on my electric bill when I stopped using them.
Do you really need to use the dryer? Can you use a clothesline?
The bigger question for many people is how many clothes do you wash? There is no reason to wash more than one pair of clothes per person per day unless you’re working in a very muddy farm environment. Most people spend all day indoors sitting in air conditioning. If that is the case, clothes rarely get very dirty and usually don’t smell bad after just one wearing. If you can wear a lot of clothing items like pants, shorts and shirts more than once, you can save a huge amount of money on dryer (and generally laundry) cost.
Again, if you really want these things and can afford them, it is fine to have them. Just know that you are choosing to spend the money it costs to run them.
Computers And Computer Equipment
I turned 1 computer off while I was gone for a week and saved $10. If you have 2 or 3 computers, that savings can start adding up. Also, a lot of newer electronic devices continue to use power even when they’re sleeping. For the typical family that has a lot of computer-powered devices, this can really add up.
Televisions and entertainment centers can also use a lot of energy, especially if you leave the TV on all day even when you’re not using it.
Lights
I always hate to discuss lights and light bulbs because they are the cliche thing people think will solve all of their electricity problems, but lights can definitely be a significant factor in how to save money on your electric bill.
If you leave many lights on all day, even when you are not in those rooms for hours, the cost can add up. If you or the kids leave the lights on when you go to school or work, you will be using electricity needlessly.
I’m not saying turn off all of the lights and live in the dark! That would make anyone go crazy!
If your house is still filled with mostly incandescent light bulbs and you use them a lot, it can also impact the cost of your electric bill. The newer LED bulbs are much less expensive to operate. One LED light bulb that is the same brightness as a 60 watt incandescent bulb uses only 13 watts of power. This means that it costs 4 times as much more to use an incandescent light bulb than it does to use an LED light bulb. That is 400% of the cost.)
Depending on the cost of the LED light bulbs, it might not make sense to re-buy all of your light bulbs, but if you can slowly replace the ones you use most often, you will also use less electricity.
Dishwashers
You said you do full loads of dishes. If you are really serious about saving money, it may help to hand wash dishes. I use a half gallon to a gallon of water (total for rinsing and washing) to wash my dishes and no electricity at all. We have to be careful because we live in a world where modern conveniences are considered necessities. It is fine to use these things but if we are serious about saving money we may not be able to use all of them the way we like.
I’m not saying this about you but I talk to so many people who say they are desperate and want to save but then they ask me to tell them how to save money “without making me uncomfortable or asking me to give up anything.” I don’t mean you because you sound like you are willing to do what it takes.
You can track electricity usage for many appliances.
If you’ve taken a close look at your electric usage and if you still aren’t sure where it’s all going, you can buy electric usage monitors, inexpensive devices that allow you to check out an appliance to see exactly how much electricity it is drawing. I think most people would be surprised at which things are drawing the most electricity.
(Mike: Our library has these devices available to check out on a library card to test your power usage.)
Sometimes there is only so much you can realistically do to save money on your electric bill.
If your electric bill is higher than you would like, but relatively low compared to other people, you might want to look at your bill closely. Is it expensive because you are using too much electricity or is it just the base expenses (taxes, extras for lines, service, etc.) that you are paying for?
Many utility companies charge a base rate that is the lowest the bill can go. If you are only paying the base expense you really can’t do too much about that because you are paying for the service of having electricity.
-Jill
For more easy and practical ways to save money and get out of debt, check out Dig out Of Debt and learn more about how to keep more of your money.
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I couldn’t agree more. Electric is about personal choices of what is needed most. The recent surge (pardon the pun) in the cost of energy makes me sick. Turning off what you can is key. Think of what you don’t need. We no longer use an automatic garage door opener. DH lubricates the tracks and I can literally lift it with 2 fingers. Also check to see if all appliances are clean. Refrigerators, freezers and dryers particularly have to work harder if dust has built up. I also vacuum out the intake/return for heat/AC.
As for turning things off at night. If you have many things plugged into a power strip and simply flip the switch off– be aware that you are also turning off the surge protection feature–better to unplug from the wall.
There are numerous web sites dedicated to “Energy Vampires” the link below is only one–there is a calculator that will help you learn your actual usages. http://www.srpnet.com/energy/powerwise/savewithsrp/EnergyVampires.aspx
Try searching Energy Vampires in the Home. Be patient some sites claim you are actually just a victim of a real live vampires. But that discussion takes place in a different forum.
So sorry to comment twice.
Something else I do. When driving around town, I charge my cell phone through the car adapter. I also charge my rechargeable AA & AAA batteries this way–oh and my camera battery. I don’t know what I save–but I feel like I’m getting something free. I read that it does not have a measurable effect on MPG or wear & tear on the battery.
I respectfully disagree with you on the appliance comment. If you select EnergySTAR rated appliances, they truly do save on the bill. And, buy the highest SEER heat/air unit you can afford – I slashed my heat/air bill almost in half just that way. And, if you buy the new non-incandescent light bulbs, you can easily save $20-30 a month on your electric bill. I didn’t believe that until I did it! Good comments but I would heartily disagree with your repair man.
It wasn’t just one repair man it has been many. Part of the point was too that even if you save $300 a year on the electric bill if you have to pay $500 for a part you not only have not saved but have lost money. As far as the light bulbs go I have seen no difference in my own personal bill since using them. Not sure why but I haven’t. Of course I must really be doing something different because even though Kansas has one of the highest electricity of places I live my own bill is only about $25 total through the winter months so when someone says they save $20-$30 a month I’m thinking what in the world must your electric bill be normally.
I agree with your last sentence totally! My bill is the same way. The only thing I use that costs a ton in electricity is my a/c which I still don’t turn down as far as I’d like. My bill only went up a couple of dollars even after starting cloth diapers and using the washer and dryer all the time. I line dry in the summer, but can’t get them to dry fast enough in the winter before they start to smell sour, so I use the dryer all winter. I will take my clothes out before they are completely dry, though, it keeps static from building up so I don’t have to spend $ on fabric softener or dryer balls.
We have tons of the non-incandescent light bulbs all over the house, wash dishes by hand, have an energy saving furnace, washing machine and fridge. We keep the house cold in the winter and warm in the summer. I don’t use the dryer, whenever possible we use the grill to cook and bake in the summer, and our utility bill keeps going up. I think the whole energy saving thing is bunkum, and the utility companies will get you coming and going. If you don’t use enough, then they’ll charge you, and if you use “too much”, they’ll get you, too.
I have to agree with Jill about the new light bulbs. We have seen no difference in our bills since we started using them. They cost so much more too! We live in Florida, so we use our air conditioning a lot. And since we
are in the northern part of the state, we use the heat as well. in my 30 years of marriage I don’t think we have had a bill less than maybe $50.00. Right now they run from $120 to $150.00.
For having to run your a/c or heat all the time that sounds about right.
I find that it is the water bill that kills me. I totally agree with the comment that the fees and taxes etc are the majority of my bills. I also agree that cfl didn’t make a huge difference in the bills. but I am also an obsessive light turner offer. but i do think the cfls last for longer. good idea about unplugging the outlet strips. I never thought about that leaving my stuff vulnerable to power surges. I love hits website and have been using the ideas posted here for 2 years. thank you!
Thanks Karie. We are so lucky to have so many faithful and nice readers. Thanks for sticking with us.
i also have done anything possible to cut my electric bill, to no avail,my bill continues to go up, im on a program that my bill is suppost to remain the same thru out the year. HaHa, its hasn’t yet, every month it is higher and higher. i changed to the cfl,wash dishes by hand, line dry clothes except in winter, dont run my a/c much nor heaters unless down in low 40’s ive changed alot to save on money- nothing! But the big companies are going to get your last dime anyway they can. Ive read your books love them.
I often handwash my dishes and use the dishwasher as a drying rack. Got that idea from my mom. When we kids were young, her dishwasher worked. By the time we were old enough to wash dishes, it had quit working but we could sure stack a lot of dishes in there to dry. Leave the door ajar, obviously so the water evaporates.
Make use of your basement in the summer as it will remain cooler than the rest of your house naturally.
My friend freezes her tomatoes and then in the winter or fall she does canning instead of heating up the house in the summer doing it.
Also, I’m sure it says on your website somewhere it talks about doing any baking in the early morning or not baking at all in the summer. Think crockpot and no-bake cookies and rice crispy bars!
Love your website!
To save water: Handwashing – wet hands, turn off the water, soap them up (a little goes a long way), rinse (using cool water). Amazing how much water you can save and IF you can train others in your household to do the same. In shower, water doesn’t have to be on full-blast. Also, after showering, using wet cloth to wipe down walls & follow up with a dry one. This save lots on time to clean as often, cleaners to do so AND water. Washing dishes – Don’t fill the sink with water UNLESS food has dried on the dishes. Simply wet your cloth, add a LITTLE dish liquid, wash several dishes before rinsing & re-soaping cloth. Use a little bleach if needed. When all dishes are washed, use warm to cool water to rinse and use ONLY a stream of water. Doesn’t have to be full-blast. I get dishes cleaner and more suds-free this way. Rarely use dishwasher but it makes a good drainer. Use too much soap on counters? (I did when Dawn came on the scene years ago.) Use a dry paper towel to remove the extra soap, follow up with cool water rinse. Also, for extra dirty dishes or food left on them, use previously used paper towels to wipe off (w/a little soap if necessary) & discard the dirty towel in garbage. Saves lots of water, work on your disposal if you have one. Great for getting grease out of pans, too, instead of putting all that icky grease down the drain.
As far as saving on electric, turn lights and appliances off that aren’t needed helps. I don’t have the time or energy to keep unplugging everything. When it’s hot and I’m out all day, I usually just keep windows shut to keep out the humidity. When it cools down in the evening, then I open up windows to allow the cool air in. Obviously and eventually though, it gets so hot over a course of days, I’ll have to run AC, but usually, a fan is sufficient. For those of you who have several children or others in the house; it’s up to you to train them about these little energy saving tips. Hopefully, some of them catch on to it, saving them $ in the years to come. I have always been sort of frugal, but I have learned a lot more since I had to start paying all my utilities on my own. Amazing how much we waste w/o realizing it. One last tip: Instead of throwing away all those paper towels you use only once to dry hands or small spills; think about allowing them to dry & keep all together tucked away and re-use them to clean up big messes, especially off the floor like mud, spilled food, messes cats make, etc. Saves a lot on buying paper towels…..
Hello there – yours is about the only site on the web that makes good ole common horse sense and you are not always trying to sell us something. I hope you appreciate this but I found your Cooking on a Dime book at my re-sale store yesterday for #3.00 with an added 25% off for seniors. I have to laugh out loud – saving on saving on saving and then your book. Thank you so very much I can’t put it down, just full of good ideas. I am a Nana so I grew up with so many of your ideas and have practiced them all my life. I am debt free thanks be to God and His Son Jesus Christ and being a string saver, cooking from scratch, doing most of my own work has helped tremendously.
I like to have my home “lighted” at night and I look for small light appliances that use the 10 watt “Christmas” bulbs and some that use no more than 25 watt bulbs. I have them all over the house and they really do “light the way” and create a warm environment without using much electricity. I bought a candle stick light and real silk shade with babbles that would have cost at least $10 retail yesterday for $1.98. I get so tickled at such luxury for next to nothing and it’s my favorite kind of shopping. It’s just a treasure hunt and I meet and visit with amazing women doing the same thing. It’s win, win, win.
I don’t know if this works or not but I was recently told by an electrician to raise the a/c temperature and leave the a/c blower on all summer. He said it costs a little for the blower but saves big-time on the actual amount of electricity because it constantly stirs the cool air. It makes sense for it works just like having a fan on all the time. If this works it would really help with the bill. I have never heard of this before and would very much welcome a response from all of you.
I just adore you women and all of the help you have given me since I “discovered” you – God’s many blessings to you and yours.
So glad you like the book Sharon. Thank you for your sweet words.I heard about the a/c blower tip last summer from my a/c repair man. I tried it and it did seem to really help. Will try it again this year.
PS That was are really good deal with savings on savings. We love those kind of deals so much.
Great ideas! Thanks for your post:)
I love your sweet spirit, Jill, and your difficult years have made you a very good and knowledgeable person. I enjoy so many of your hints, and have put them to good use. I especially love the approach to saving money on food by assessing and using what you have on hand, and making that meat stretch. Before, if a little something left I sometimes just ate it—bad habit. Now, I do many things that helps save overall. I have cut down so much on electric bill I cannot believe it. I worked Home Health for many years, and every home I went in had different temperature. It taught me not to get spoiled to a perfectly comfortable temperature. Also, I personally believe it makes us stronger to not have the perfect temperature all the time. I get a little warm in Summer and a little cold it Winter
Oh Thank you Shirley that is so nice of you to say. You are so right in learning not to get spoiled on having the perfect temperature. I often wonder if there was some major natural disaster or something how most people would survive especially if they could not get immediate help. I was visiting with a mom one time and her daughter (who was in her late 20’s and lived far away)called in a complete panic and I mean panic because the power had gone out and she had no idea what to do at all. What people don’t realize is you need to prepare for things before they happen and not try to learn what to do after it happens. I am not talking about a major earth disaster here but just what to do if you car breaks down on a trip in a snow storm type thing.
Sorry I didn’t mean to rant. It is just a pet peeve of mine if you couldn’t tell. :) I am so glad our tips are helping and so impressed with you and how you are working so hard at making everything including meat stretch. Good job and thank you again for taking the time to send us your sweet comment.
I’ve been enjoying your website and have spent hours reading through the articles. Really helpful! I would like to mention another way of lowering the electric bill.
A few years ago, my husband and I bought a small, double-wide mobile home when we moved to Florida. It was only 700 square feet and only 5 years old so you would think the electric bill would be low. Not so! We were shocked to get the first bill of $180. At the time, I didn’t even have a clothes washer or dryer, no dishwasher, and just the two of us.
My husband went around the house and caulked every window and replaced the weather stripping on the doors. He lowered the water heater to around 115 degrees. I hung heavy curtains over the windows as they all had wood blinds. Carpeting on the floor provided further insulation. Fast forward to today, and my electric bill is less than $90 with a washer and dryer, a chest freezer, and using the a/c at night since this is not the best neighborhood for leaving the windows open.
We run our a/c fan day & night all summer, constantly on. I figured that if we left it to turn itself on and off when it signals itself to do so, that it was running extra just to keep bringing the temperature back down again. So about 4 years ago I decided enough was enough. I turned the fan on constant. Lo and behold, I was right. The temperature in our house stays much longer at the 80 degrees it is set on and our power bill is quite a bit lower. The reason the power bill is lower is because the constantly running fan keeps the temperature at 80 a longer time so the compressor does not turn on near as often. The compressor takes more power than the fan, so I’d much rather use the fan. I wish I had known about this years ago.
Yes it is much better to use the fan on your a/c. Fans – whether you use your whole house fan or a free standing one takes way least power than the a/c. Also having an attic fan can make a huge difference too. Thanks for mentioning it Karen.
We are in our third week of experimenting with using outdoor solar lights indoors to save electricity. Before, at night, if we needed to go to another part of the house (say, to go to the bathroom), we would turn on lights all the way there and back (hallway, bedroom, bathroom). Now, we put solar lights in the hallway, bedroom, and bathroom and the only room that we need a light on in is the TV room that we spend our time in. We first tried the cheap Dollar Tree solar stakes but they didn’t charge well after a few uses so that ended up being a waste of money. So we went to WalMart and bought some 12 lumen solar disks (pkg of 4 around $15). My husband fashioned some wall holders for them (sort of like a plate holder on the wall) out of metal coat hangars and a push pin. We hang the solar disks on the wall in the hallway, bedrooms, and bathroom and it is amazing how much light they put out! We never need to turn on the lights in any room they are in – actually, it was disconcerting at first because we kept thinking we need to turn a light off! The nice thing about them is that you can leave them on as nightlights, or they have a switch on the back of them so you can turn them off when you go to bed. In the morning, we put them outside to collect sunlight, then in the evening we bring them indoors and use them. So far it is working out well but we haven’t had a new power bill yet so we don’t know the real effect on that. Nonetheless, at least we know we are using less electricity because we aren’t turning on as many lights!
Thanks for the tip Susan. I once heard someone say when they lost power one of the hardest things to deal with was their toddlers had always used a night light and they were up all night with them because they were crying and scared with no light then the next day they thought to use a solar light and it really made a difference.