One of the best ways to save on your electric bill is to unplug things that aren't being used.
I'm sure you have heard of phantom load. I have been experimenting over the last few months unplugging items when we're not using them. (TV's, printers, VCR's, speakers, stereos, clocks, kitchen gadgets ) I have seen the KWH usage go down on my electric bills. Most electric company's list your kilowatt usage for the previous year and the previous month. So you can monitor your use.
Another thing I did starting in January was take advantage of off-peak and peak hours. I went to my energy company's website and did some snooping. I found out that off-peak hours in the winter for our area is 10:00a.m. to 6:00 p.m weekdays. That means they charge less per KWH for electricity than they do at peak hours. I had to do a search on their website of the words "peak hours" and finally found this information. It wasn't listed in an obvious place. fyi
So I adjusted my pool pump to now turn on at 10:00a.m. and run till 6:00 that way it is running mainly during non-peak hours. I'm also trying to run my dishwasher and do laundry during those hours too instead of waiting until nighttime when they charge peak rates.
Keep in mind that summer and winter peak/off-peak hours may be different.
So go to your energy company's website and snoop around and figure out what peak/non-peak hours are for your area and study your energy bill month to month and see if a few changes make a difference on your TOTAL AMOUNT DUE.
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Since I am home all day, I try to use electricity during off-peak hours too. Now I know where to go find out exactly what those hours are-thanks Susan:)
ReplyDeleteI never knew that! I'm heading over there right now. Learning some great new stuff. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis is great advice! Thanks so much, Joy. I never knew about this but will tell my husband. This is just up his alley!
ReplyDeleteGreat advise Joy. I'm going to check on the peak hours deal. I've known about unplugging the cords but so many of ours are behind things we can't get to and I've never done it. After reading this post I found 2 lamps, the cell phone charger, the camera charger, and a back massager that are accessible so I ad least unplugged 5 items.
ReplyDeleteBack again! What we can unplug: coffee pot, toaster, microwave, outlet strip in spare room that have 2 computers, printer and lamp.
ReplyDeleteT.V. (now that we don't have DTV or TIVO so they don't have to reboot every time)washer, dryer and another computer in garage/office. I'm no longer using my dishwasher so I can unplug that one too. Amazing how many there are!
You can turn some of the appliances off at the breaker box.
ReplyDeleteI put a lot of my stuff on those power strips and just turn multiple things off at once with the button, but it still drags a little bit of electricity, but not as much as each individual thing would.
I use to leave my blowdryer plugged in all the time and have stopped that.
I still have DVR/Satellite and I do leave it plugged in all the time because it takes so long to reboot the signal.
But I do unplug the TV/dvd/FM Receiver that are plugged into a powerstip together. Have you ever felt how hot a TV is. It really generates a lot of heat.
i didn't know there was such a thing as "peak hours" for electric.
ReplyDeletei could always get the dishwasher ready and have the hubs turn it on while i'm at work.
Wow! I didn't know alot of that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOur on/off-peak hours are exactly opposite to yours and now I'm worried this whole time I had the wrong information!!! No!! Glad you posted this!
ReplyDeleteI do this, too. I unplug everything I can! I haven't checked the peak hours, though. I'm off to do that! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFiguring out the off-peak hours does help out. Checking and making sure that the items you're not using are turned off takes time. However, when it comes to saving electricity, a couple of minutes to see if everything is in order is all right.
ReplyDelete-Victor Wetherbee
I'm so glad you mentioned the off-peak hours for electrical usage. I feel like this one is one of the more overlooked tips to save on electricity, but it's rarely mentioned. Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention.
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