It can sometimes be maddening trying to figure out what’s making your electric bill so high.
- Now that I’m using mostly all LED lights throughout my house, the lights alone have little impact on my energy expenses.
I don’t use them when it isn’t necessary, but it’s nice not getting worried when you find a bulb you left on for a day or two by accident. The appliances are a different story though. I do a lot more laundry while it’s summer, simply because I sweat more and my clothing gets dirtier as a result. Running my oven takes a lot of electricity as well, but the worst thing it affects is the air conditioning system. My kitchen oven will raise the temperature in my house by a degree or two if it’s on for over an hour. This causes the air conditioner to react by running harder. I had another variable exacerbating my air conditioner performance that I would have never considered before speaking with an HVAC specialist. Believe it or not, my window coverings have been letting too much sunlight inside, and too much cool and conditioned air outside. With better window blinds, you can lower your electricity bill from fewer air conditioner cycles to maintain the same indoor temperature. I have somewhat leaky windows to start with, so having good window coverings that keep my conditioned air indoors is a huge improvement. It’s also cheaper to buy new curtains than it is to have your old windows ripped out and replaced completely. I hope to save towards getting new windows down the road, but for now I’m happy with my new window blinds. They already noticeably lowered my electric bill within the first month of use.