How to Reduce Your Power Bill
Have you ever felt excited to get your power bill?
With the rising cost of electricity, the only thing you probably feel is a bit of dread because you’re wondering how much it’s gone up since last time.
After you read this article, you might actually feel excited when your next bill comes. That’s because when you learn and implement our top tips on how to reduce your power bill, you’ll be excited to see what a difference your efforts made!
The Cost of Electricity
In the modern world, most of us can’t go five minutes without using something that requires electricity. However, rising electricity costs have many people a little nervous.
Your electric bill is made up of two parts. The first is a fixed charge that the provider charges everyone. This flat fee covers the cost of your active electrical connection. This includes maintenance of the poles and wires that bring electricity to your house. As the infrastructure ages, the cost of maintenance goes up and is reflected in your bill.
Plus, as the demand for electricity grows at peak times, the cost goes up to ensure that the system can meet that demand.
The second part of your bill is a per-kilowatt-hour charge based on your usage.
You can lower your electric bill directly by reducing your energy consumption and lowering your usage. Collectively, we can all help lower our bills by using less energy during peak times. This reduces the need for extra infrastructure to meet the high demand.
Tips to Reduce Your Power Bill
Here we go, the most exciting part! What can you do to directly reduce your power bill? Don’t worry, you don’t have to sit in the dark or give up hot showers. Here are a few ideas that will barely affect your daily routine.
Wash Clothes in Cold Water
Did you know that it isn’t necessary to wash most clothing in hot water? In fact, hot water contributes to ageing your clothes by coaxing out the dye and causing the colours to bleed.
You still might want to wash your socks and underwear in hot water, but everything else can be washed in cold. This saves energy by not heating so much water.
Hang Your Clothes Out to Dry
Dryers use a lot of energy so why not hang out your clothes instead? It might not be practical all year round, but every little bit helps.
Run a Full Dishwasher
Your dishwasher uses the same amount of hot water to wash dishes whether there are 5 dishes in it or 50. Thus, always wait to run your dishwasher until it is full.
Run Major Appliances at Off-Peak Times
Providers charge more per kWh during peak times. Find out when the peak times are for your area and try to run major appliances at off-peak times. You might not be able to put off vacuuming, but it’s generally easy enough to wait to run the dishwasher or throw in a load of clothes.
Here Comes the Electric Bill
Once you put a few of these tips into practice, it just might be exciting to get your bill and see how much you saved!