I have to admit that I was always disregarding our electric use at home. Growing up my mom always told me that I should turn off the light whenever I left a room. She also taught me to not leave the water running while brushing my teeth. Recently I’ve realized simple steps to cut your electric bill in half!
When I say ‘simple steps’ that is what I mean – I’m a lazy gal who isn’t willing to eat dinner by candlelight (despite the romance factor), have a cold shower, or handwash my clothes (like I did when I traveled South America, jup!).
Do you wonder every month how the electric bill could possibly be so high? After some experiments and some things I tried, I realized that it’s easy to save tons of money on the power bill. Here are 7 tips to cut your electric bill in half!
How To Save Money On Utilities
1. Unplug
One thing I didn’t know is that when your phone charger is plugged in it is still using power, even if your phone is not plugged in. How crazy is that? These power sucks can increase your power bill significantly.
I was under the impression that this would only save a few dollars per month maximum. Just to try it out – we did a little experiment. Over the course of a month, we would unplug everything that we were not using. Well, almost everything. Any large appliances we would leave, taking too much effort. We would unplug our small appliances like our toaster, water boiler, electric toothbrush, and all chargers (phone, laptop, e-reader).
Unplugging everything was super easy because everything is plugged into a surge protector. To turn them off, you just turn the surge protector off. Just press one button.
I swear, this almost cut our electric bill in half. About 40% savings when you’re just paying attention to this and not leaving everything plugged in!
If you don’t believe me, I encourage you to do this experiment on your own and see how much money you could save. It can vary by device and electric provider, but I’m sure you’ll save a significant amount of money on your utility bill every month.
2. Use A Power Strip
If you don’t want unused chargers and plugs using energy while the actual device is being used, the first tip is to unplug. When that is too much for you, or you want to easier approach, use a power strip.
One handy tip is to use this smart power strip, which automates the process for you. It will power off devices that are not currently in use. It’s genius and it will help you cut your electric bill in half. The future is now!
[Read: 25+ Incredible Easy Money Saving Tips]
3. Use Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs
We used to have the standard light bulbs everywhere in the house. It seemed that we were changing them very regularly. Too regularly actually. Especially in the bathroom, the light needed replacement at least once a month. That’s not normal, right? We would buy the cheap light bulbs, but even that it was getting expensive given we have three lights in the bathroom.
After a while, we decided to switch to these energy-efficient light bulbs and I’m very happy we did. Since we’ve put it in several months ago, we didn’t have to change it yet. The energy-efficient light bulbs last much longer compared to the standard light bulbs. Plus energy-efficient light bulbs use up 75% less energy, saving your power and money.
I didn’t replace all the light bulbs at once, I just waited until they weren’t working anymore and I would replace them with an energy-efficient light bulb. I don’t like wasting things that work, same for a working light bulb.
[Read: How To Save Money In Summer And Still Make It Memorable]
4. Wash Your Clothes In Full Loads In Cold Water
The washing machines nowadays have an option to cold wash your clothes. Meaning that at a temperate of 20 Celcius (68 Fahrenheit), you can wash your clothes. Your clothes will come out equally clean, the only difference is you will instantly save money!
Instead of doing multiple small loads, I would recommend you wait until you have enough clothes to do a full load of laundry. If you’re washing in smaller loads, they tend to cost the same amount of money per washing cycle as a full load – making it more expensive since you wash more often. Wait until you have a full load of/ dirty clothes for the washing machine, and you will be right on track to cut your electricity bill in half.
[Read: How To Spend Less Than $70 A Month On Groceries]
5. Stop Using Your Dryer
When you’re right on track to save money on your washing, continue with saving money with the dryer. Since I’ve been living in the student- and shared housing, I’ve never had a dryer. Ever. I don’t think it’s necessary at all. I’m fine just line drying my clothes.
I have to agree line drying your clothes isn’t as easy and convenient as just shoving them straight into the drying, but it can save you a great amount of money. When you already have a dryer, give line drying a try! It’s gentler on your clothes, meaning that you will save money not having to replace them. On top of that, you will save a great deal of money on your electric bill.
This portable line dryer can fold flat, so you can just slide it next to your washing machine when it’s not in use. I have something similar and I have to tell you, it’s very convenient!
[Read: How To Stick To Your Budget – 9 Motivation Tips]
6. Use Draft Blockers
When I was in my teenage years my parents installed draft blockers in my room, because I would want to sleep until noon without being woken up by any light. Apparently, they are not for sun-blocking purposes, who knew? Today, I’m using them in my own house as what they’re actually intended to be: draft blockers.
They make sure that the cold air is not coming into my heated room. This will save you a lot of money if it is winter and it’s snowing, you don’t want your warm air to heat up the streets. You can get the ones that I’m using here!
[Read: 18 Ways to Treat Yourself Without Breaking the Bank]
7. Use A Fan Instead Of Airconditioning
In the Netherlands, where I’m from, there are basically no houses with air conditioning. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had a heatwave where it was 40+ degrees Celcius (104+ Fahrenheit). That’s very hot for our little country. Normally our summers are rainy and if you’re lucky the weather is good enough to wear shorts. Not this year!
During the heatwaves, all portable air conditioners and fans were sold out. Luckily I was able to get my hands on a fan, yay for me! Fans are a lot cheaper to run compared to air conditioners, it can save you up to 20% of your electric bill.
If you’re living in a place where having airconditioning is built into the house, replacing air conditioning can be very expensive. When you’re using it less, you will prolong the life of the air conditioner significantly.
If you don’t have ceiling fans, you can pick up the cheap portable fan that I got here.
By implementing these 7 simple tips, you will notice a significant reduction in your utility bill. You will be right on your way to cut your electric bill in half. Even if you’re implementing a few of these tips, you will save money!
Do you have any other great tips to cut your electric bill in half? I would love to know!
Founder of Spark Nomad, Radical FIRE, Journalist
Expertise: Personal finance and travel content
Education: Bachelor of Economics at Radboud University, Master in Finance at Radboud University, Minor in Economics at Chapman University.
Over 200 articles, essays, and short stories published across the web.
Experience: Marjolein Dilven is a journalist and founder of Radical FIRE, a personal finance platform, and Spark Nomad, a travel platform. Marjolein has a finance and economics background with a master’s in Finance. She has quit her job to travel the world, documenting her travels on Spark Nomad to help people plan their travels. Marjolein Dilven has written for publications like MSN, Associated Press, CNBC, Town News syndicate, and more.
