Saving money on electricity?

• In the Kitchen:

  • Use a kettle to boil water for cooking as it is quicker and uses less energy than a pot on the hob.
  • Always match the size of the pan with the size of the stove plate.
  • Use a microwave to cook as it is quicker and cheaper, 1 oven uses the same power as 18 microwaves.
  • Only fill kettle with the amount of water that you need.
  • Cut food into smaller sections before cooking to help it cook quicker.
  • Make your toast in a toaster, not under the grill.
  • Don’t keep opening the oven door while you are cooking.
  • Always put a full load of washing in the washing machine and if the weather is good dry the clothes on the line outside.
  • If you have a stove with heavy solid plates that retain heat, switch off the plate a few minutes before removing the pot.
  • When you open your fridge door for more than a moment, it loses cold air. Cooling it down again will take a lot of electricity. So be quick and don’t let all that cold air out.
  • Do not place hot food in the refrigerator or the deep freeze, rather allow it to cool outside first.
  • Ensure that the door seals are in good condition and don’t put the refrigerator near the oven.
  • Every time you switch on your dishwasher, it’s the same as switching on 120 CFL energy-saving light bulbs. Wait until the dishwasher is full before you switch it on. Use the economy programme wherever possible.
  • Clothes should never be placed in the tumble dryer while they are still dripping with water, so be sure to remove excess water.

   

  Lights:

  • In most homes, lighting accounts for around 17% - 20% of the electricity bill. A considerable amount of electricity can be saved by replacing your conventional tungsten bulbs with compact-florescent lamps (CFLs). They are more expensive, but CFLs last 8 times longer.
  • Turn off the lights that you don’t need on and use lighter lampshades as they wil make the most of the energy.
  • Fit lower wattage bulbs wherever possible and avoid leaving spot lights on for too long, as they use more electricity.

   

  In the Lounge:

  • Switch the TV off when not in use, leaving it on standby mode uses up to 50% of the power the TV would use if it was actually on, the same goes for the Hi-Fi’s and computers.
  • Rather use a gas heater or a temperature-controlled oil heater for space heating and switch of the heater if you leave the room.
  • Curtains help to retain the heat, so draw them early in the evening.

   

  In the Bathroom:

  • Shower instead of running a bath, as a shower uses much less water and therefore, less hot water and less electricity.
  • Fit low-flow shower heads, this will not only save water, but electricity too.
  • A geyser blanket will insulate your geyser not allowing the heat to escape. To save even further, insulate the water pipes and turn the geyser’s thermostat down to 60°C.
  • Fix any dripping taps, especially hot water taps.
•  

• If using the oven - cook more than one meal in it at once ( I normally try do four )
• dont use air cons - use celing fans and open the windows - I live in South Africa - we do hot.
• Instead of having heaters on all the time - dress warmly ( I do understand that in some places it is a lot colder than what we get here)
• If your freezer is half empty - dont - ensure that you have filled up soda pop bottles of water - so that your freezer does not have to make cold empty air ( also because I live in South Africa - we have power failures in winter )
• Ensure that your vampire electronics are plugged out ( cellphone chargers )
• then there is the whole - turn geyser off / keep geyser on debate
• Turn off your computer monitor - a monitor left on overnight wastes enough energy to laser-print about 800 A4 pages! By turning off your monitor energy consumption can be reduced by 50%
• Save 10% of an air-conditioner electricity bill by turning the thermostat down 1º in winter
  and up 1º in summer
   

Because of our power shortage at the moment - we are blasted with this type of information on a daily basis - on the tv between 6-8 there is normally a warning to show you how high the usage is at the moment and asking people to turn off their stoves, geysers, pool pumps, tumble dryers, air cons. We have radio adds as well that addresses the issue on how to save electricity as well , and every time they have an increase in the price of electricity - we are flooded with even more tips on how to reduce our electricity usage.

The biggest thing is heating and air conditioning.  We use a wood stove to offset the heat cost.  I keep the a/c at 77 degrees.  We're cool but not cold.  I also hang a lot of clothes on my fancy drying rack dh made for me.  It is a rod with shelf.

I love all of kikisian's suggestions. They are all very good points.

Like Skimommy, we keep our thermostat high in the summer (78) and low in the winter (59 at night/67 during the day).  We also use the fluorescent light bulbs.

We have our progammable thermostat and try to keep it reasonable on the settings.  We need to get better about some of these items.  I've been trying to run the dishwasher and washer/dryer at night to stay out of the high use times-not sure if this actually helps us or not?  By dh is bad about running half-full loads-I'll have to show him this.  We could also invest in clothesline to avoid dryer use. 

My thermostat stays at 80 in the summer and 75 in the winter. I don't do cold - it hurts, even if I add layers of clothing.

I don't use the dryer in the summer unless it's nasty weather.

I use CF bulbs.

I wait until the dishwasher is full to run it.

When something is almost done cooking, I turn off the burner/oven and let residual heat finish it.

I don't unplug tv's, computers, toaster ovens, etc - that would involve moving furniture and crawling under the table to get to the outlets.

I'm in south Louisiana, and my electric bill for an 1100 sq ft house averages around $100  month in the summer, $150 in the winter.

Programmable thermostat.

Unplug items when not in use. 

Dry clothes out on the line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deemom 

Programmable thermostat.

Unplug items when not in use. 

Dry clothes out on the line.

Yes, this is what I basically do to save electricity. Very helpful thread everyone.