How to Reduce Energy Bills

Whether it is summer, winter, or any other season, we never run our homes as efficiently as we could be. There are certain measures you can take in order to reduce your energy bills that are actually quite easy and inexpensive.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Weather stripping
• Power strips

1. 
   Adding weather stripping to doors is a great way to reduce energy bills.

   Insuate your windows and doors.
   This is a great way to reduce your energy bills. You can eliminate drafts coming from open cracks around your doors buy putting weather stripping around them. This can be found cheaply at almost any hardware store. Also, make sure to check your windows to see if you have any drafts coming from the edges of the window.

2. 
   Get a furnace check up once a year.

   Get an annual furnace check up.
   This may be a commonly overlooked step. By getting a furnace check up once a year, you can keep your furnace at peak performace, while using less electricity/gas. Also, getting an annual check up can reduce the likelyhood of running into a future problem that could cost you more money in the long run.

3. 
   Replace incandescent with compact fluorescent bulbs.

   Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
   This can be a really great way to save money, especially if you always have lights turned on. Compact fluorescent bulbs output about the same watts, while using less electricity. They also last about 10 times as long as the standard bulb!

4. 
   Unplug

   Turn off "electricity vampires".
   This may be costing you more money than you think! "Electricity vampires" are any appliance or device that uses electricity while it is off. Things like televisions, computers, cell phone chargers, microwave ovens, and DVD players all consume energy while they are off. To combat this, unplug these devices when they are not in use. This may seem like a chore, but an easy way to do it is by plugging everything into power strips. This way, when you aren't using something you can just flip a switch, and the device isn't using any more energy.

Tips & Warnings

• Be creative and find other ways of saving electricity. Once you start saving on your bill, it can become addicting!
• If you follow these steps, you might actually surprise yourself by how much money you could be saving.

[Steveo52]

on 7/26/2009 wow nice tips 5/5 stars

[shelc]

on 7/3/2009 Great tips not only for saving money, but helping the environment! 5*

[shenandoah]

on 6/26/2009 Good tip$. Thank$.

[karileighk]

on 6/25/2009 This is very helpful. *5