"I just paid my electric bill yesterday. Yikes! It was a little over 15 cents a kWh. My biggest problem is I have an electric water heater. We seem to use a lot of hot water with showers, the wash, the dishwasher, etc. So I put together a list of things that can save money on the electric bill. Most of them are pretty easy, some are more involved."
He goes on to show various energy consuming appliances, with great information on how much each one draw while in use.
Paul continues, "Then I did a little research on how to save money and make the appliances more efficient.
With refrigerators and freezers, vacuum the dirt and dust off of the condensing coils (black coils, usually in the back) at least once per year. Make sure the unit has enough air circulation to cool the coils as needed. If the air is restricted by dirt or blocked by a wall, it can make the appliance work harder. Many freezers have a "condensation saver" setting. This is a heat strip embedded in the freezer door that uses quite a bit of power. Turn it off and wipe up the condensation with a rag every so often.
For hot water heaters, set the temperature to the minimum required. If you don't like to take very hot showers, then the temperature can be reduced further. Generally speaking, when I shower, I run all hot water and it is the perfect temperature. There is also less likelihood of being scalded.
Clothes dryers need to have the lint filter cleaned after every load. A blocked lint filter will cause the dryer to run longer. Also, it is a very good idea to clean the dryer vent every year or so to remove excess lint. I did this with a shop vac in about 20 minutes. I also put up a clothes line in the backyard, In the summer, we use this exclusively to dry the our clothes. It is a bit more work, but it does save electricity.
Air conditioners need to have the inside foam filter cleaned as well. This can be done with a vacuum cleaner. While you are at it, take a low pressure garden hose to the aluminum fins on the outside of the unit. This is where the heat that is removed from the inside goes out. They must be a clean and free from dirt, pollen, leaves, fuzz, and other debris to conduct the heat into the atmosphere quickly.
Dishwashers should be ran only when full. Use the "air dry" or "energy saver" settings for drying the dishes.
Don't use portable electric heaters if at all possible. Hair dryers? Blah, you are already beautiful, how can you improve perfection!
Well pumps use the most electricity when they first turn on. To keep your well pump from short-cycling, install a bladder tank or make sure your non-bladder tank has the correct air charge in it. See this post for an explanation.
Saving money on lighting is pretty easy. As your incandescent bulbs burn out, replace them with compact fluorescent bulbs. These use almost 75 percent less power than the incandescent bulbs and last four to five times as long. Look for inexpensive Compact LED bulbs in the future. Those will use even less electricity and last almost indefinitely.Finally, many appliances have stand-by power usage. Many times those things with the little black cubes (wall warts) that plug into an outlet are prime users of power. You may want to limit the use of things with wall warts. Also, many items with remote controls such as TVs, VCRs and DVD players use power when in stand-by mode, waiting for the on command from the remote control. If you have any of these items that don't normally get used, unplug them.
There are small electric meters called a "Kill a Watt" meter. You can use this to measure your stand-by loads. A somewhat interesting statistic is that if everyone in the US turned off there stand-by loads, 28 large power plants would sit idle.
If you really want to get zealous, you can buy one of those outlet strips that turn off and on. Then you can plug all of your stand-by loads into that and turn it off at the end of each day."
Check out Paul's blog and bookmark it - it could be a great resource for you to learn as much as possible from someone who may have already gone through what you're yet to experience!
If you're looking to save money in your home, consider hiring a Home Energy Auditor. They can review where the money is flying out of your home and give you energy-saving recommendations.
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