Five tips to save money on home energy bills
One of the easiest ways to save money is to cut back on your expenses. There are a number of simple changes you can make in your daily life to help reduce your costs starting with the home energy bill.
It’s easy to forget about how much energy we do use. From forgetting to turn the lights off when you leave the room, to not turning off media devices, it’s easy to let spending and usage get out of control.
What else can you do to save money on your energy bills? Here’s five easy tips to get started1
- Set the temperature control. Every degree above 20 can add 10% to your heating bill. In winter, heating can account for over 30% of your bill so set your thermostat between 18 and 20 degrees. In summer, set your thermostat to cool from 26 degrees or above. And remember to turn all your heating or cooling off when you leave the house
- Wash clothes using cold water. Think ‘cold’ when you do your laundry and you could save around $115 per year. You can also save by making sure you select the shortest appropriate washing cycle and waiting until you have a full load
- Stop standby power waste. Up to 10% of your energy use could be from gadgets and appliances “sleeping” or on standby. Turn your electrical gadgets off completely when not in use
- Shut doors and close curtains. Where possible, shut doors to areas you’re not using and only heat or cool the rooms you spend the most time in. Make sure your curtains or blinds seal your windows properly, and keep your curtains closed at night and during the day when there is a heat-wave. Block draughts around doors and windows to stop air leaking out, or in
- Wear the right clothes. Dress for the temperature. Layering clothes and wearing wool keeps you warm in winter and means you can turn your heater down
Granted, you might not save a huge amount of money by reducing your home energy costs for only one month, but if you put these good habits into practice now, over time these savings will add up and can be used for an emergency fund, or to start paying down your debt.
1 Source: http://switchon.vic.gov.au/more-ways-to-save/top-10-ways-to-save-energy