Five Ways to Reduce your Electricity Use.

We have been attempting to reduce our electricity bill over the past several months and have discovered some effective strategies that lower our environmental footprint.

Our electric bill was once claiming we were using up to 1200 kWh in January and as low as around 700 kWh. The time when it was lowest was between April and May, the time that we use the climate control system the least, it is also the time of year when the days are becoming longer and brighter. There are several strategies that we have used since the power use spike in January that has marketably improved our efficiency; one was to decrease the amount of lighting we were using by almost half without changing our habits, first we found all of our lighting fixtures that use 2 or more bulbs, then take out half of the bulbs or so throughout the home, it should not decrease the light level so it is impractical and if it does, use a higher wattage bulbs ( it still will not use as much power as before even if you change it from 40 or so to 70 watt ). Using different light bulbs than the incandescent is typical these days, but CFLs are in reality un-environmental because it takes energy to process the mercury and clean the bulb itself out when you dispose of them, so LEDs are better as they use less energy and are like other incandescent bulbs easier to dispose of. Despite enhancements in our efficiency involving lighting fixtures, the heating system is still problematic during the colder months.

We have improved this in the past using a propane fire place which reduced our bill compared to the last winter of 2013, but it was still higher than it could have been. We improved it further thanks to a contract agreement not to put the heating system or air conditioning system above a certain temperature. Another useful tip to keep your heating system off as long as possible from How Stuff Works says using a ceiling fan in the wintertime by “ reversing the fan's direction and keeping it at a low speed in a clockwise direction, the blades will create an updraft, taking full advantage of the fact heat rises. This reverse air circulation helps to move hot air downward toward your living space and eliminate hot and cold spots. “. The TV show Real Green recommended several tips to reducing your heating bill; One is to put a thermal blanket around your hot water tank and the other is something that you will see many websites recommend, by setting the water heater to 45 degrees Centigrade, and setting our thermostat lower at night we will be able to decrease our footprint further.

These strategies can help reduce power bills when it is the most expensive, and can keep your carbon footprint lower.