Saving Money!

Here are some basic tips you can use to save money on your electric bill. Taking some quick steps can reduce your monthly electrical bill, sometimes doing so by a nice large chunk. Some ideas are common sense, but some of things we may not even think about.

One of the big obvious one, but ones that cut a good amount of power, is to simply manage your lighting more efficiently. Turn off the lights when not in the room. This is a stickler for me, but something I cannot seem to get my kids to do. I can literally walk through the house at any time, and find almost every light in the house turned on, and not a child in site. I hate to grumble and yell, but I have yet to find the right way to get it into my kids head to flick off the switch when they leave a room. I dream of a gadget that automatically turns off the lights after a set time. Kids often enter a room, get something and leave - leaving the lights on. It would be nice to have something that turns off the lights automatically after about five minutes. But I dream.

Adjusting the thermostat on your heating and cooling is a big energy saver too. If you do not have a thermostat that has a timer built in, that is a good idea to get. If you have a pretty set schedule of work during the day, etc. then you can set it to automatically adjust the temperature during those times when the house is empty, but triggering them to come back on prior to your return. Even without it, if you try moving the temperature two to three degrees different than you normally do, chances are you'll barely notice the change, except when it comes to paying the bill.

Unplugging the electrical products around the house can help quite a bit too. I know I used to just leave my cell phone charge adapter plugged into the wall until I found out that even when the phone is not connected, the power supply is still using electricity. Many appliances around the house have little power lights on them, letting you know they are plugged in. Even those little "on" lights use energy, and unplugging unused appliances can save energy. Our PS3 and Wii game consoles have a little light that stays on constantly when plugged in - robbing bits of power constantly. Look around you house at the things you leave plugged in, and see if you can simply unplug them when not being used - every bit helps.

CFL lightbulbs are the big push these days. While the cost is a good amount more upfront, they really do save energy when used and they tend to last much longer also. Word on the streets has it that these will be the only lights available for purchase in the near future.

Take short showers instead of running a bath - the energy needed to run a standard electric water will be greatly reduced. In fact, reducing the temperature on your water heater by a few degrees can save you big in the long run.

All of these little things can save you each month, and when you stand back and look at the annual savings, you'll probably be amazed at how much can be saved with such small changes.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Utilities Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.