How to Save on Your Monthly Electric Bill By Switching Off Little-Used Appliances

Reducing your monthly electric bill can feel daunting. However, making small changes to turn off little-used appliances can lead to big savings over time. Here are some tips to help you identify appliances to switch off and save on your electric bill each month.

Audit Your Home Appliance Use

The first step is to audit appliance use in your home. Here are some questions to ask yourself when looking at each appliance:

• How often do I use this appliance? Be honest about usage frequency.
• Does this appliance run all day or just occasionally? Items that run continuously tend to use more electricity.
• Is this appliance necessary or more of a convenience? Less essential appliances are good targets for cutting down usage.
• How much electricity does this appliance consume? Check wattages to get a sense of consumption.

As you audit your appliances, make a list of those you use infrequently or could live without for periods of time. These are prime targets for cutting down electricity usage.

Identify the Top Energy Hogs

While auditing your appliances, pay special attention to the biggest energy hogs. Your major appliances like refrigerator, clothes washer and dryer, water heater, and HVAC system consume the bulk of electricity in most homes. Consider these tips to reduce their energy use:

• Adjust refrigerator temperature. The refrigerator is often one of the highest electricity uses. Keep it set to 37°F to 40°F if possible to save energy.
• Only run full loads in the clothes washer, dryer, and dishwasher. Partial loads waste electricity and water.
• Set water heater to 120°F. This provides sufficient hot water for most uses while reducing electricity for heating the water.
• Change HVAC filters monthly. Dirty filters make the system work harder and use more electricity.

Small changes in operating your major appliances efficiently can net big savings on your electric bill over time.

Cut Down Use of Convenience Appliances

Many convenience appliances in your home may not be essential, such as:

• Coffee makers
• Radios and stereos
• TVs in rarely used rooms
• Computers not in constant use
• Gaming consoles and accessories
• Printers/scanners used infrequently

Challenge yourself to cut down use of these types of appliances in your home. Here are some suggestions:

• Unplug appliances when not in use to eliminate standby power draw.
• Turn off computers, monitors, printers, and accessories when not needed.
• Enable power management settings on computers to reduce wasted electricity.
• Avoid using convenience appliances daily or frequently if possible.
• Consider using convenient devices less often or getting rid of those you rarely need.

Change Habits Around Lighting Use

Lighting accounts for roughly 12% of home energy use according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. To reduce wasted electricity on lighting:

• Switch to LED bulbs. LEDs consume far less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs.
• Install occupancy sensors. These automatically turn lights on and off based on detecting motion in the room.
• Use natural light whenever possible. Open blinds and curtains to maximize daylight instead of turning on lights.
• Turn off lights when leaving a room. Get in the habit of turning off lights when a room is not in use.

You can also consider installing timers, motion detectors, or smart lighting controls to automatically reduce lighting use when not needed.

Monitor Electricity Usage and Savings

Once you identify appliances to switch off and change your usage habits, be sure to monitor your electric bill savings. Here are some tips:

• Read your electric meter monthly to compare usage over time.
• Review electric bills to compare costs monthly and track reductions.
• Consider getting an energy monitor to identify real-time electricity use by appliance.
• If improvements plateau, revisit appliances to find new ways to reduce usage.

Stay motivated by measuring success and knowing your efforts are literally paying off on your electric bill each month. Over time, regularly switching off little-used appliances can add up to big savings.