During the winter months many homeowners find that their electricity bill increases. This can be an inconvenience when working it a tight household budget. The good news is that there are ways to reduce the amount you have to pay by taking some careful steps to lower your consumption.
The first thing you may want to look at is the appliances in your home. These days’ appliances are rated, helping you choose ones which can help keep your consumption to a minimum. If you have older products which are probably drawing on the energy, it’s time to consider a change.
When buying appliances ensure you need what you are buying. The second freezer in the garage may be more of a convenience than an actual need, at the same time this single item can add the amount you pay on your electricity bill. So keep this in mind when you rush out to purchase your next appliance.
Go around your property and check all the windows and doors seal properly. This is one of the biggest drains on consumption, forcing heaters to work overtime to keep the home warm. Using a match you can go around window and door seals and see if there is any air leaking into the home. The good news is this is quite an easy fix, in the majority of cases, a fix which can save you money in the long run.
Many people don’t realize they can lower their electricity bill in winter by paying careful attention to their lights. Change to economy bulbs and ensure you get the whole family involved in turning off lights you don’t need. When you leave a room get into the habit of turning off the light. Lights constantly burning can put a drain on your energy consumption, increasing the amount you will have to pay when your next invoice arrives.
The same applies when cooking. Pay careful attention to what you use. If you use an electric oven and hob, then use the oven more. An oven will use energy to heat up, but then retains that heat, only using energy again to retain the heat, where a hob is constantly draining the power to keep at a steady heat. Choosing oven baked foods over others will help keep your costs down.
Use your heater during peak rate times. Ask your supplier what your peak times are. In most instances energy is more expensive during the day, which means that you should be running your heaters from 6pm through to around 6am, keeping the home warm during the nights and carrying through into the day.
Insulation is essential if you want to know how to lower your electricity bill in winter. Using heaters means they have to work harder and longer to ensure they keep the home to the desired temperature. Insulation protects the home, reducing unwelcome leaks, helping keep all that warm air in the property for you to enjoy. This can help reduce the amount of energy you use and is always a worthwhile investment.
Take the time to compare the suppliers for your area. Some areas are deregulated which means that suppliers are in tight competition with each other, this is beneficial to home and business owners who are control of which supplier they use and how much they want to pay.
Monitor your electricity bill on a regular basis to see when it increases and decreases, think about what you have done differently to see if there is any way you can reduce the amount.