The world is going through hard economic times now. Money is getting harder to come by even in first world countries. It is only prudent that we seek to reduce our cost of living, and one way to do this is to reduce our electricity bill. Even if times were better, it would still be profitable to do what we can to be more energy efficient. We will here look at a couple practical ways in which we can really make dents in our electricity bill.
1. Use solar power where feasible. Solar power can potentially reduce your electricity bill to nil, but the cost of procuring and installing such infrastructure does not make this a feasible option for most people. However, instead of trying to power everything with solar energy, it can still be beneficial to use solar power for some items. For eg. water heaters use a lot of electricity, especially if it is one of the older ones which requires the heating of water in a storage tank. Switching to a solar water heater would have a noticeable effect on your electricity bill.
Another avenue for utilising solar power, is through your outdoor lights. Making use of solar patio lights will reduce your electricity expense, though not as dramatically as say with the solar water heater. Solar garden lights are also worth exploring.
2. Make better use of your refrigerator. The refrigerator is one of those ubiquitous household appliances that contributes to a significant portion of your electricity consumption. It is recommended that you keep your refrigerator filled, especially the freezer section. When you open your refrigerator, cool air escapes which will cause your appliance to do more work to bring the internal temperature of the refrigerator back to what it should be. If it were filled however, then less work will need to be done since the items inside being already cooled, will help to stabilise the internal temperature.
There are a lot more ways to reduce your electricity bill. These are just a couple to get you started.