During the spring and summer your electric bill can go through the roof due to cooling costs. We have come up with some helpful hints on habits you can change to keep your electric bill down so that you can keep your home nice and cool.
- Use a single higher wattage bulb instead of several bulbs with lower wattage. A 100-watt bulb produces more light then two 60-watt bulbs and consumes 20% less energy.
- Make sure to only use long-lasting bulbs when the advantage to an extended life outweighs them putting out less light per watt then standard bulbs. For example, If you need three to get the lighting level you desire it’s not worth it.
- Buy lampshades that have a wide opening on the top and the bottom since this helps spread light in the room.
- Turn off incandescent lights when you aren’t using them. Turning lights on and off will shorten the life of the bulb but turning them on and off in themselves does not consume any power. Fluorescent lights on the other hand are better to be left on if you are only turning it off for a short amount of time.
- Make sure that before you buy an appliance to check the yearly wattage usage and shop around for the energy efficient ones.