Learn how to Reduce Your Electric Bills

The frustrating part of lowering electric bills remains the simple fact that we depend on electricity for most things. For example, think about all the things currently plugged into the electric outlets in your home. From space heaters to air conditioners to lighting to appliances to TV’s to phone chargers to hair dryers to computers. The list is endless.

Additionally, to make matters worse, our electric bill does not help us figure out what things in our homes use the most electricity. Conversely, the bill also excludes suggestions for conserving electricity. However, if you look closely, electric bill offer clues and patterns that help. For example, if we graph 12 consecutive months of our electric bills, it highlights seasonal usage. The analysis shows the consumption of our Kilowatt-hours (or kWh's) in different seasons. As a result, homeowners learn about their electricity usage during the summer (called cooling loads), winter (called heating loads) or year-round (called baseloads).

In a home that uses more electricity in the winter and summer months, the electric heating system usage, the cooling system electricity usage, the insulation levels and the home’s air tightness would be examined closely for possible electrical savings. After that, baseload uses that are used throughout the year such as electric water heating, appliances, lighting and plug loads would be looked at for electrical savings opportunities.

The good news is that improvements in the efficiency of electrical devices is happening all around us. From LED lighting to high-efficiency air conditioning to energy efficient homes, the opportunity to conserve electricity is at our finger tips. We just need to reach out and grab it.