25 Ways To Lower or Reduce Your Electric Bill and Save Money

Updated: April 24, 2020

It’s been a while since I’ve given some money saving tips so I decided that this will be my topic for today.

I know that one of the top financial headaches we have right now is the rising cost of electricity. Add to that the fact that our current lifestyle makes this expense a necessary one.

Yes, we can’t live without electricity (debatable in some cases, but that’s another story).

Anyhow, for us living in the “urban jungle” – getting tips on how to lower our electric bill is something we can always use. That’s why I’ve compiled this list of quick and easy energy saving tips.

But before going on, I would like to invite you to read these first:

• Quick Ways To Save On Electricity
• Top 10 Energy Saving Tips and Facts For Refrigerators

These two posts on how to save electricity focuses on “The Big Three” – Lighting, Air Conditioner and Refrigerators. If you want to significantly lower your electric bill, then the tips I’ve written before there will surely help.

Now for some energy saving tips on common household appliances:

Washing Machine and Dryer

• Always use your washing machine in full load – it’s designed to handle that much so optimize your time and electric consumption. Remember, full load and NOT overload.
• Know the proper amount of detergent to use so that your clothes will be clean and yet require only one or at most two rinsing cycles; and pre-soak soiled garments to lessen your wash cycles.
• Squeeze your clothes first before spin-drying them.
• Put your clothes dryer in a warm and dry space. A clothes dryer in a cold or damp basement will have to work harder to get your clothes dry. But more importantly, just hang your clothes to dry on sunny days.

Clothes Iron

• Iron large batches of clothing at one time.
• Iron first those that require low temperature to reduce warm up time, and then work up to those requiring higher heat.
• Never overheat the iron. Use the appropriate temperature for the type of clothes you’re ironing.
• Dampen clothes moderately. Excessively moistened clothes take longer to iron.
• Switch the iron off in the last few minutes of ironing. The remaining heat will be enough to press lighter materials.
• Don’t iron everything. Consider using fabric conditioners when washing so it will be easier to iron them or at best, you don’t need to anymore.

Rice Cooker

• Make the household agree to eat at proper times so there will be no need to use the “warm function” of the rice cooker.
• Clean the rice cooker properly, specially the inner pot and hot plate. There should be complete contact between them to ensure efficient and even heating.
• Use the appropriate size of rice cooker according to your household needs. An oversized rice cooker would consume more energy than a properly sized rice cooker.

Stoves and Ovens

• Prepare all ingredients first and thaw frozen food thoroughly before cooking to minimize use of the stove.
• Use flat-bottomed pots and pans as they allow faster heat transfer.
• Match pots and pans with stove element. Avoid using a big burner for a small pan to lessen heat transfer loss.
• Use the least amount of water and the smallest size of pan possible. Otherwise, you’re wasting energy to heat up excess water or excess metal.
• Turn off the electric stove during the last minutes of cooking. The remaining heat will be enough to keep the food simmering.
• Refrain from looking inside a working oven too often and instead use the oven light to check on the food.
• If available, use microwave or toaster ovens for cooking or warming leftovers. This consumes less energy than using the regular oven and electric stoves.
• A microwave oven is an energy efficient alternative to a conventional oven. It cooks food faster.

Electric Fan

• Install the right type of fan – desk fans for small rooms, stand fans for medium-sized rooms and ceiling fans for large and spacious areas. Like air-conditioners, there is a right type and size of fan for every space.
• Keep your fan speed at the lowest possible level that will provide comfort. Oscillate it to efficiently cool the room.
• Never leave an electric fan running – always turn it off after use.
• Clean it regularly to keep the motor running smoothly and efficiently.

I guess that’s it. Do share more of energy saving tips that you know below.

Also, if you want to learn more ways on how to be frugal, then please check out my collection of Money Saving Tips here.

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Photo credits: marcuswms and azadam