Advice and News, Hints & Tips •
Boating is one of the best hobbies there is. Whether you’re fishing, swimming, skiing, or just sightseeing, a day Looking for ways to lower your electric bill? By making some small, simple changes to how you use energy in your home, you’ll be surprised by how much money you can save. Here are our favourite 11 ingenious tips for keeping your electric bill under control.
How Can I Lower My Electric Bill?
#1 Start With An Energy Audit
Find out quickly how efficient your home’s energy usage is with an energy audit. Many utility companies offer a free home energy audit to customers. This is well worth taking advantage of!
Pinpointing what appliances in your home are draining extra energy is a vital step in whipping your electricity bill into shape. If your council or suburb offers reduced electricity rates during certain hours of the day (off-peak hours), try to get important household tasks – like laundry or running a dishwasher – in these low-cost windows of time to save money on your electric bill.
#2 Use A Programmable Thermostat
Believe it or not, this little device is a great way to lower your electric bill. Cutting costs could be as simple as adjusting and programming your thermostat to run at the optimal temperature when you’re at work, sleeping or out for the weekend. When heating, we recommend setting your thermostat to between 18 to 20 degrees. In summer, the best thermostat temperature is 24 to 26 degrees. Each degree above or below these set points can add as much as 10% to your air conditioner’s running costs.
#3 Insulate Your Home
Insulating your home is a smart way to improve your home’s energy-efficiency, saving you up to 45% per year on electricity costs. Here are some easy ways to insulate our home:
- Insulate your windows
- Use weather-stripping to insulate any gaps between your windows and doors
- Add insulation to your home’s exterior walls
- Close your windows, doors and curtains when running your air con
- Paint your home with insulating paint
#4 Choose Energy Star Appliances
If you’re ready to buy your next fridge, dishwasher, washing machine or air conditioner, prioritise a model with an efficient energy star rating, ideally with an in-built eco setting for greater savings.
#5 Invest in Energy-Efficient Air Conditioning
Your air conditioner is probably the one appliance in your home you couldn’t bear to live without in summer. This makes it tempting to keep your air con roaring all season long. Luckily, you can easily increase the efficiency of your air con by having it inspected and cleaned by a professional once a year. You can also clean out or swap your air con filter once every 30 days to keep it working great.
Extra benefit: This will also keep the air flowing through your home super clean. A definite bonus in allergy season!
#6 Install Solar Panels
Solar panels are a great way to save money on electricity. How do solar panels lower electricity bills? By generating your own electricity, you’ll be more independent from the grid. The only catch: To truly reap the benefits, you’ll need to stay in the same house long enough to recoup the expensive installation costs.
#7 How To Lower Your Hot Water Electric Bill With A Heat Pump
Wondering how to cut down your hot water electric bill with a heat pump? This useful device draws heat from your environment (usually the air outside ), making this an energy-efficient way to heat your hot water at a reduced cost.
To truly get the most of your heat pump and optimise its efficiency:
- Restrict the flow temperature when heating water
- Manually activate your electric booster heater if applicable
- Monitor your electricity consumption
- Combine your heat pump with solar panels
#8 Install Energy-Efficient Lighting
Did you know something as simple as your light bulbs can contribute a surprising amount to your electricity bill? Yep, this is especially the case if you’ve got old incandescent or halogen light bulbs. We recommend installing energy-efficient light bulbs instead since these not only use less electricity but last longer too. In fact, LED lights can reduce your lighting energy consumption by 90 percent.
Want to take this to the next level? Install a combination of motion sensors and dimmer switches. The motion sensors will stop you from needing to switch your lights on and off as you move about or outside your home, while dimmer switches will ensure you only use as much light as you need.
#9 Make Energy-Smart Laundry Decisions
With just a few simple tips, you can save lots of power when doing the laundry:
- Use cold water to wash your clothes and cut your washing machine’s energy consumption by 90 percent
- Only do laundry when you have full roads ready
- Set your washing machine to the correct load size
- Take advantage of eco settings
#10 Cut Out Phantom Energy
Did you know a shocking 75 percent of the electricity used in your home likely comes from switched-off electronics that are connected to the wall? This ‘phantom’ usage can leak from your surprising devices, including TV, computer, Internet router, phone charger or kitchen appliances — anything that’s on standby.
Instead of letting these appliances suck up electrical power when plugged in, a simple solution is to plug the electronics into power boards and switch off the power board between uses.
#11 Do Landscaping For Energy Efficiency
Careful selection and planting of trees around your home can help reduce your energy bills. Plant trees, shrubs and vines to:
- Shade your house from the hot summer sun by planting trees in the east and west
- Plant vines on the outside wall and around windows to increase the effectiveness of an insulated wall
- When planting trees to the north, choose deciduous trees with a wide canopy that can shade the house in summer and let the sun through in winter
- Plant deciduous trees with wide canopies close to the house, in the sun’s path, but not right up against the wall
- Plant trees such as palms, with tall bare trunks and high canopies, near your house to shade the roof but not the walls or windows
- Plant tall, cone-shaped trees in a row to shade your house from low sun on the eastern and western sides
Need help with maintaining your air con so it effectively cools your home in an energy-efficient way? We’re here to help. Get in touch with H&H Air Conditioning on (07) 3276 1800 (Brisbane) or (07) 5477 1777 (Sunshine Coast).