You’ve moved into a new apartment, how exciting! Unfortunately, lots of people become frustrated once they have to begin paying their utility bills and realize they are higher than they expected. Luckily, there are a few ways that you can cut back and reduce your monthly bills.
Adjust Your Thermostat
You can save money by adjusting your thermostat a few degrees depending on the season. A large portion of your monthly utility bill is based on heating and cooling. Lowering or raising your thermostat minimal amounts with changes of seasons or when you are not home will help with these costs.
Use Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
Who knows what kind of light bulbs your apartment currently has, but according to the U.S Department of Energy, 5% of the average American household’s energy consumption is lighting. With this being said, the first thing you are going to want to do is switch out those bulbs. By switching over to LED lights, you’ll use substantially less energy than you would with a standard light bulb. Some LED light bulbs can last over 10 years.
Turn off the Lights and Fans
You will see a reduction in your utility bill if you turn off the lights and fans when you leave the room, or leave the house. Leaving these on will just add to your costs.
Use Smart Power Strips
Smart power strips turn completely off after a set period of time. That means anything connected to them, like TVs, game consoles, routers, and cable boxes, when they are switched off, will be completely turned off.
Reduce Water Usage
Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth, washing your face, or shaving. You can also reduce usage by doing bigger loads of laundry, and limiting the amount of time you spend in the shower.
Make Sure Air Filter Gets Changed
Dirty or clogged air filters are much less efficient, and can lead to higher gas bills. You should check your air filter every three months to see if it needs to be replaced.
Change your Kitchen Usage
Cooking creates more heat throughout your house, which in the summer will increase your AC costs. These easy tips help reduce that usage:
- Use the microwave to heat foods, it is quicker, takes less electricity, and doesn’t heat up the house.
- Your oven fills the house with heat, if you wait until the evening to cook you can open the windows or use a fan to blow out the heat until finished.
- Dishwashers mainly use electricity to heat water and to dry. By running your dishwasher only at night, it reduces your AC usage.
Turn off or Unplug Appliances
Why waste money on standby power? By simply unplugging or turning off your appliances, electronics, lights etc. it could save you money you didn’t even know you were wasting.
What do you do to help cut down on your utility bills?