Hello again, savvy savers! Can you believe this month is almost half-way done! I don’t know about you, but as difficult as no spend days are around my neck of the woods, knowing how much I have been able to save is awesome! Now onto today’s challenge!
As Summer is soon upon us, those longer, lazy, hazy days of warm weather, afternoon showers, and the omnipresent, money-sucking power bill spikes! If your anything like me, your seasonal electric bill can be nothing short of terror!
With these ideas in mind, here are a few tips to help your “Summerize” your power bills this coming season:
1. Charge your cell phones in the car: Leaving your phone sitting on the charger overnight not only shortens your phones battery life, but costs undue amounts on your power bill, due to its phantom consumption charges; avoid theses charges by charging my phone and gadgets in the car while I drive a few times a week! This small change can save you upwards of $10.00 a month!
2. Reduce the brightness on your HDTV: The factory settings on your HDTV are adjusted to provide the best in-store viewing experience, but home lighting often negates higher UV levels; reducing the brightness settings will slow your tv’s power usage by $3.00-$5.00 monthly.
3. Running the fan on your A/C: Running the A/C fan to circulate the cool air already in your home, instead of turning down the thermostat, for two hours daily, will cut the cost of your monthly A/C costs by a 1/8th; this one trick helps cut my power bill by $30.00 monthly.
4. Cook outdoors: Cooking outdoors causes you to not only use less electricity, but to not generate cook-related heat in your home, a real boon here in the deep south; also consider you will use less dishes, service wear, and utensils, too!
5. Wash clothes with cold water: If you’re a night owl, consider washing laundry during non-peak times, from 7 pm-midnight in most area, using cold water cycles, will cut your laundries electrical usage by half!
6. Clean your cooling system: Changing your air filters, keeping A/C return vents clear, and allowing air to circulate fully through your home will keep your A/C running efficiently this summer, and reduce service call fees.
8. Consider drying alternatives: Using a clothesline, DIY dryer balls, combine dryer loads, or time your dryer to stop can help cut your drying costs in half!
All of these steps have helped to keep my Summer power bills lower and it can for you, too!
Here’s to summer,
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