2 Easy Ways To Save on Your Electric Bill
There are a lot of great opinions going around online these days on the topic of ‘going off the grid’, which is basically not depending on electricity and/or the electrical companies and thus avoiding paying the huge monthly bills. This is a very strong sentiment for a lot of people, however that is another topic for another day. Today I want to write about practical ways to conserve energy and save money. We all use and waste a lot of electricity, probably a lot more than we are even aware of. I hope you are able to use some of these tips and tricks, and are able to get through the heat of summer a little more comfortable without being stressed about paying huge electric bills at the end of every month.
Growing up I remember being reminded constantly to ‘turn off lights’ as I left a room, while this a great thing to do, after researching I found that it isn’t the lights which are consuming the most electricity (unless of course you are using some old power guzzlers). More often then not it’s the appliances that are running constantly, heating and cooling in the house etc…
So for my number one top and favorite tip it would have to be… Have more plants!! This actually makes more of a difference then you would think! Plants are not only extremely healthy to have around you, they also bring down the temperature drastically. Have more leafy plants around your house, growing up the walls, in pots, in the ground, on the roof, anywhere really just get more plants the more the better! They block heat from entering your home and absorb the sun rather than having it beat directly onto your home. Besides the other added benefits are endless!
Number Two is along the same lines of proactively reducing the amounts of heat entering your home in the first place: Keep the Windows Covered. I wouldn’t recommend keeping them covered 24/7, but drawing the curtains or pulling the blinds during the hottest hours of the day is a smart thing to do. You could go so far to even install solar screens or window film on your windows. Or if you are already doing an upgrade get high performance windows, which filter out up to 70% of the heat while the visible light entering your house reminds at 100%, this really is a win-win.