How I Cut My Power Bill By 20 Percent Without Using Solar Panels
I’ve got my monthly energy bill down big time and I did it without solar panels. My energy bill is 25% less than the previous month. Here is how I did it.
Window Insulation - The best thing you can do to lower your power bill is to make sure your windows are insulated properly. If you only have single pane windows, you are losing a lot of money. Single pane windows are terrible insulators. You need to upgrade to double pane windows. Double pane windows will save you a lot of money. Take a room by room approach as double pane windows are expensive.
Attic Ventilation - The next best thing you can do to save money each month involves attic ventilation. Attics need to vent air correctly this is why they usually have vents. If the vents get clogged with dust, your attic will get too hot during the summer. You should clean out the vents in your attic. If your attic does not have vents, you should consider having a few put in. You can go to your local hardware store and purchase attic ventilation kits.
Filters For Your Air Conditioner - If your air filters are dirty, your air conditioner will work too hard. You should change your air conditioner filters once every month if you want to save money off your monthly energy bill.
Range Filter - The fan above your range uses a ton of energy. If the filter in your range hood is clogged with grease, the fan will work a lot harder to do its job and cost you a lot of money. You should change your range filter once every 3 months depending on how much you use it.
Save Money By Turning Off Lights - You should go around to all your lights and lower the wattage on all your bulbs. Do not leave lights on when you leave the room. Do not use outside lights. A single outside light that uses a standard 60-watt bulb will cost you about $10 a month. Forget using dimmer lights as they don’t save you very much. Use fluorescent lights whenever and wherever possible.
Appliances Power Usage - If you want to understand how the solar power calculate works or you want to calculate this manually you first need to estimate how many hours per day you use the appliance. You then use this formula: Wattage / 1,000 x hrs/day x $/kWh / 30 days/month = total cost per month. A refrigerator uses 540 watts per hour. If your refrigerator runs for 125 hours a week, that’s 125 hours / 7 days = 17.9 hours per day. Here’s what a month’s worth of use costs you: 540 / 1,000 x 17.9 x 0.15 x 30 = $43.50 per month. If you are using a central air conditioner (for 10 hours a day during the hot summer months) it’s costing you: 4000 / 1,000 x 10 x 0.15 x 30 = $180.00 per month.
