I’ve written a few posts on how to save money on your heating bills, but when I saw this question pop up in my inbox, I figured it was time to revisit it!
Hello Mavis,
Have you written a post on how to reduce your electric bill? I cannot believe how low your bill is! I live in the Boston area and live in a two-family, new construction, with every energy-saving feature except for solar panels. Our electric bill is nearly $300 a month! We do laundry once a week and hang our clothes on racks to dry. Sheets, towels and undies go in the dryer. We have gas appliances and keep the house at 75 degrees in the Summer. We use lights sparingly and have only two TVs. I am a fanatic about unplugging things. Thanks for any insight.
~ MEM
One of the most extensive posts I’ve written about the subject was geared more towards the winter months and included the following tips:
- Drop the thermostat at night and throw an extra blanket on the bed. Colder temperatures activate our brown fat anyway…you’re practically doing your body a favor {not to mention your pocketbook}.
- Wash clothes in cold. Heating water is EXPENSIVE, and most clothes do not need to be sanitized. Your clothes will last longer anyway.
- Make sure doors are sealed, check the space under doors leading to the outside, and caulk around outside windows. There is no reason to pay for heat that you are literally throwing out the window.
- After you bake dinner, leave the oven cracked. You paid for that 350 degrees, you might as well let it spill out and warm up the kitchen.
- In the late afternoon/early evening, begin dropping the heat. Use a space heater for the area the family will spend the evening.
- Make sure to switch the direction your ceiling fans turn and turn them on. A clockwise turn will push warm air back into circulation.
- Change your furnace filter regularly. Making sure your furnace is running at maximum efficiency is just a no-brainer.
- Turn all lights off when you’re not in the room.
- Make do with daylight during the day and don’t even turn lights on.
- Stick to 5 minute showers. I know it feels awesome to stand under the hot water on a cold day, but again, heating water is expensive. As the cherry on top, you’ll also save money on water.
- If you have an attic door in your house, staple some insulation to the inside of the door. A lot of heat is lost to that opening–and unless you are looking to heat the rafters, it’s kind of a waste.
- Turn down the water heater temperature. Instead of constantly having 140 degree water at your fingertips–try turning it down to 120 degrees.
- Invest in a programmable thermostat. You really only need to heat the house to comfort when you are home. If you leave during the day, you might as well drop that sucker way down, and in the interest of comfort, you can program it to begin getting warm again about an hour before you get home. That way, it’s pretty painless.
But that list leaves out all the tips on reducing that bill in the heat of the summer. Here’s how I’ve kept that bill low all year. A lot of these tips really come down to thinking back to what our grandparents did before central air was readily available. They used what they had and managed just fine. Here are some tips so you, too, can slash that power bill:
- Open windows early in the morning when the air is still crisp to cool the house down. Close them up when the temperature turns warm. THIS IS MY VERY BEST BIT OF ADVICE!
- If the temp outside is 75 degrees or less, try using window fan ventilation. Place fans on the downwind side of the house facing out. Open a window in each room and open all interior doors to allow air flow.
- Provide effective shade for east and west windows. Thick curtains will work wonders here.
- Install white blinds. Wooden or colored blinds might be more aesthetically pleasing, but white gets the job done by blocking out those sun’s rays the best!
- Plant plenty of shade trees around the house that block your house from hot afternoon sun.
- Don’t use the oven during the heat of the day, and not at all if possible.
- Same goes for running the dishwasher or drying clothes. Not at all during the hottest part of the day, and sparingly if possible.
- Don’t use your AC and a dehumidifier at the same time. Your dehumidifier increases the cooling load and overworks the AC unit.
- Make sure doors and windows stay tightly shut during the day. If you need ventilation, run a fan.
- Make sure your AC unit is properly sized for your space. You might be overworking or under working it and causing it to be much less efficient and effective than it could be. While it might cost you a pretty penny upfront for a new unit, the long-term savings might be well worth it.
- Raise your thermostat setting and invest in ceiling fans to offset that.
- Don’t turn AC on in unused rooms. Block vents in those rooms.
- Turn AC off when you go on vacation or leave for more than an hour. Turn it down while you’re at work.
- Clean your AC’s air filter every month during peak cooling season.
And there you have 27 awesome tips to follow to reduce your power or gas will in the winter and the summer months! Did I miss any great tips?
~Mavis
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Jennifer H. says
These are all great tips. However, I would be wary of turning your AC off when on vacation if you live in a humid climate. We did turn ours off during a vacation and return to mold and mildew everywhere in the house. Perhaps leaving it set to 80 or 82 would be a good compromise, so as to still get the dehumidifying effect of the AC.
Christine Hagen says
Exactly, here in South Georgia there is no way we can leave the air off while on vacation. We have friends who ruined their furniture by turning their AC off. This is also true on a daily basis if you live in a hot and humid area. Your AC has to work extra hard to get the humidity out. This is especially true in the late afternoon. Five o’clock is the hottest time of day–the time of day when a lot of folks are getting off from work. It is always good to talk with your HVAC person. Around here they recommend not shutting vents off. The unit does not work as efficiently when you do-it goes along with having the proper size unit for your home. What good does having the proper size do if you are shutting rooms off?
Pam says
No opening the windows early in the morning here. It’s not that cool and it is so humid the air conditioner just works harder. Folks outside the deep south can’t fathom our humidity. I once had family visiting from NY that brought along fuzzy, footed, zip up jammies for their little ones to sleep in here in July. I couldn’t even imagine!
Brian says
I agree, it’s always nice to think you can turn EVERYTHING off when on holiday. But there is always things that I will leave on. Such as timers for smart lights, dehumidifier/AC, radiators. These little things are peace of mind measures to keep everything ticking away in the background. To avoid mildew, deter burglars etc. Always think what you could do with leaving on.
Carrie says
I think a lot of it also depends on your humility company. We live in a small town on the west coast that has one of the best small cooperative power companies. This means our power rates are low. We have mostly hydroelectric, some wind and other sources in our state. We also have a very low ‘delivery charge’ or whatever you call what they charge you regardless of how much power you use. And lastly we live near the water in a rural heavily treed area, which means it does cool off at night and we usually have a nice breeze. So from all I’ve read and heard on the east coast and other areas your cost is going to be significantly higher even if you are using the same about of electricity.
Lisa says
I tend to burn a lot of candles in the winter as they do produce some heat, especially in the bathroom. (In the hottest summer months when opening the windows just can’t be done I use wall plug ins or a scent warmer to put a fresh, clean fragrance in the air). And the normally closed thick curtains in the west facing windows get opened in the winter months on sunny days to let the sunlight warm the room and the hardwood floors. Small things add up!
Nancy D says
I found this on a google search:
“The 20.4 cents per kWh Boston households paid for electricity in August 2017 was 43.7 percent more than the nationwide average of 14.2 cents per kWh. Last August, electricity costs were 33.8 percent higher in Boston compared to the nation.”
MEM says
Yes, I believe it! My late parents lived in Pennsylvania and despite a drafty house and inefficient furnace and appliances their bills were still much lower than mine.
Stacey says
Just looked at my bill and we averaged 21 cents per kWh, which is upsetting. I live a little north of SF. Definitely living in a HCOL area in many ways.
Carrie says
I had to to some digging to find my kWh charge and apparently it changes from month to month. $0.1160 / kWh this month and $0.1104 / kWh last month. I am in central NC.
Julie P says
I do the same things roughly in winter as your tips, we have the heat in summer but AC is not the norm here. I manage to keep our house cool by much the same methods as you. We have solar panels so our summer bills are incredibly low normally but this summer they have not dropped down to their usual monthly payment of about £10 a month as we just haven’t had the sunshine been a very poor summer. I still do wait to wash until we have bright sun and when it is over the house., then each wash is practically free. Woohoo! As said in a previous post the cost of electricity and oil is high here and oil is rising daily which we use for heat. The tip here and I don’t know if you do this in the States is to swap your supplier on an a regular basis I have kept with the supplier I am with now for the second term as they have good prices, but the standing charge here is high. So use less, pay less is the only way.
Carrie says
Here in NC my utility bills are much lower in the summer. I set my thermostat to 77 and only drop it down to 75 for an hour while I get ready in the morning. The days that feel miserable I will turn the ceiling fans to high. The recent power bill is $51 and gas is $25 (stove and heat). I have gas heat so a cold winter month is triple the cost ($150) even with keeping it at 68 degrees but the electric bill will go down to $20ish. I have a wood stove insert in my fireplace but its more for charm and isn’t efficient at heating any other room besides the living room. A down comforter really helps me to stay warm at night and I pretty much live in 1 of 3 wool sweaters all winter.
Sharon says
Who is your electric company? Same state ours is never that low. I would love to get my electric that low. I keep it mostly at 80.
Carrie says
Duke Energy for electric and Piedmont Natural Gas. I’m in Greensboro.
Carrie says
Also, my house is small at 1200 sq. feet and one story. Only two adults. The water heater is also gas. You have to take those details into consideration.
Lisa Smith says
I encourage the family to hang their laundry out. This is a hit or miss issue. The dryer broke. It really isn’t an issue because I know what the problem is and have the skills to repair it. I have chosen to leave it. My bill is consistently lower by 100.00 a month. The rain occasionally will cause an inconvenience. A load of laundry costs 75 cents to dry.
Carrie says
I also like to hang our laundry, outside in the summer and by the wood stove in the winter. But there are two times of year I can’t get away with it. In the spring when we’ve stopped using the wood stove but it is still cold and wet out. And in the fall when it is cold and wet but not cold enough for the wood stove. Our laundry just doesn’t dry fast enough and will get weird smells. We live in an incredibly damp stop (anything left outside in the winter molds).
Lisa Millar says
Yup – that was going to be my only contribution! Line dry line dry!! 🙂
In those odd times of the season we just wait for a ‘good day’ before doing laundry, but summer is no problem and winter by the fire is easy.
We don’t own a dryer but thats rarely been an issue.
100 less per month in bills is substantial!!
Tejas Prairie Hen says
$300 a month would be awesome! Ours is minimum $500 a month, keeping it 80 degrees 8 months a year, and 70 for the cooler months. Water and gas are not included in this bill. 🙁
Julie P says
That’s horrendous, I am shocked and will cease to moan about my electricity bill ever again!
MEM says
What state are you in? Besides a state of frustration? I really think a great deal of my problem is location in Greater Boston.
Susan B says
Exactly! Different electric (“light companies”) have different cost/kWh. Some states are regulated and other deregulated. Yes, definitely do everything possible to limit your usage, but in the end, your rate is going to make this biggest difference.
In MA (where I also live), the average cost.kWh is 19.69. In WA, it’s 9.25.
Source: https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/
Kristina says
Corollary to your box fan in the window idea– install a whole house fan. Turn that baby on for a few minutes morning and evening when the air cools (if you live somewhere that happens), and it sucks the heat right out of the house through the attic and the cool air in through the windows. Where we live, summer temps are typically 90s-100s, and we live without AC much of the time. When we got ours, the local power company offered a rebate that pretty much covered the cost of the unit.
Julia says
We had a whole house fan that we used in the summer when I was a child. I remember my parents opening the windows when the evening cooled down and turning the whole house fan on for a while before bedtime. It made the house cool enough to fall adkeep
Carrie says
I’ve lived in my 1928 house for two years, it has a whole house fan and I’ve never used it. It’s still in the mid 80s and humid in NC. I’ll have to experiment this weekend!
LD says
Wow… that reader needs to have the electric company come and check on the meters at her house… there is something seriously wrong with that usage. For a two-family it’s almost like she’s paying for her portion and the other families portion.
We lived n Princeton Massachusetts which has one of the highest electric rates in the state and never paid anywhere near that amount…
MEM says
We have two generations living in our two family so yes, we are paying for both halves. The meters are brand new as of July 1, 2016 when the house was built.
Susan B says
MEM, did you mention somewhere what your heat source is? We (North Shore, MA) have oil heat (with some limited electric baseboard heaters in one room). In our 1500 sq ft 1937 home, we spend about $100/month for electric. Do you have electric heat?
FYI, we had MassSave come last year to do an energy audit. It’s free and the auditor wrote a detailed list of cost and needs (mostly the need to insulate our walls and attic, yikes). We ended up having our house insulated this summer (by Jones Bros, who they recommended — they seemed to do a good job). Because we have oil heat, we didn’t qualify for any rebates, but gas customers often qualify for VERY significant rebates. Even though you have newer construction, it might be worthwhile to have an energy audit.
Jo says
Ways to reduce HVAC bills are extremely dependent on where you live. If you are in a humid area, the humidity is much higher in the morning so it’s the worst possible time to open a window. As someone else commented, turning off, or lowering too far, the AC leads to major mold and mildew. It
really isn’t the heat but the humidity. I’ve lived in dry areas and humid areas, and the difference in a 75-95 degree day is pure misery with humidity.
The best thing you can do is take advantage of a free insulation and air gap check that most gas/electric companies offer. I dropped my a/c bill from $300 down to $190 in the heat of the summer by improving fiberglass insulation and using a Lot of Great Stuff foam insulation. A new HVAC system brought that down to $80-90 in the summer and never above $70 in the winter. Running a dehumidifier can lower bills depending on the setting because most new a/c systems have a dehumidify function built in. Built in combo a/c & dehumidifier systems are fabulous but costly.
Blocking vents in unused rooms is no longer sound advice and I thought you had a blog post saying that? Systems work better when the air is able to flow around and heat cool the exterior walls in all rooms.
Make sure you have deciduous trees on the East and West sides of the house because you need that heat gain in the winter.
Fuel prices are also very widely variable across the country and of course the efficiency and type of HVAC system you have makes a huge difference. I’m in the NC Piedmont and have a 45 year old house.
MEM says
Thanks for answering my question directly Mavis! I’m “MEM” from the Boston area. We just checked our latest utility bills and while our usage in all areas has gone down, the cost of the utility companies’ “delivery charges” keeps going up. We have a one year old home with every energy-efficient feature you can imagine. I’ll try some of the tips above. I do appreciate it!
Mavis Butterfield says
Glad to help. I love that so many people chimed in with suggestions.
Sherry says
I feel your pain “Mem”. Here in CT our delivery charges are ridiculous as well. I do everything i can to use less on utilities yet those delivery charges are always the biggest part of the bills.
E in Upstate NY says
MEM, even though your house is “new,” you may want to find someone with a heat camera. Don’t remember right now exactly what they are called, but you point it towards say a wall and you can see by color changes on the screen the heat variances. You may be surprised at sections of a wall that insulation was “forgotten” or poorly installed. The camera will quickly show you places where heat and cooling is lost.
Just a thought.
D. Thombs says
I would like to suggest what we do in the winter in our 2500 square ft house. We turn off the heating and bought the Amish infared heaters for every room then they heat very well and we also have them set extremely low or off when not in that room and close that door. Even when all are on and running because our big family is in their rooms it has cut our bill by hundreds in the winter since they are pennies to run compared to even our energy efficient heating/ac unit.
Karen says
Here in the PNW our kW rate is approx$0.076 which is much lower than the east coast. Mavis, is your house all electric or do some of your appliances use gas? Our electric bill for the summer months is $88 a month but that did include air conditioning for about 5 days each month and a hot tub. We also pay $10.86 gas service charge for the months we don’t use our furnace. We usually use our electric heat pump except when the temp goes below 38. Your bill is amazingly low. Congrats on that!
Practical Parsimony says
I don’t have the figures, but switching to LED is as big a money saver as switching from old-style bulbs to curly ones. Plus, using an LED in the porch light means there are very few bugs to get in the house at night when the door is opened. I use Utilitech from Lowes that cost about $2/bulb. They come in a two-pack and an 8-pack. I use the daylight and forgot the wattage, 60 or 40.
Lamps to read by are cooler with the LED. This winter, I will change the lamps back to 60 watt incandescent bulbs this winter. Any bulb I can reach will go back to incandescent this winter.
Rosaleen says
MEM, I’m also in MA. We are happy “empty nesters” so have fewer people using electricity. Our August bill was about $71. Heat (unused), kitchen range, and water heater are natural gas. The town where we live distributes power, some self generated, the rest purchased. Transmission costs are shocking, (Hmm, pun was unintentional, but I like it.) I do line dry our laundry year round, as well, and try to keep things minimized.
Do get a MASSSave audit. Also look into getting your bill audited. A friend worked for a company that did this. Their fee was a portion of the money they recovered for people and businesses. Your bill could have mistakes, maybe there is a ground draining power, or maybe you are helping pay a neighbor’s bill. Unless you have a huge home being over airconditioned or electrically heated, something seems off.
Good luck!
KAYTHEGARDENER says
Can you get one of those “ghost wattage energy drain” testers from the utility or energy conservation groups to see how much plugged in appliances that are not on are costing you to be in standby mode??
Carrie says
I have a “power manager” on my AC unit. In the summer I get $8 deducted from my bill. I don’t really understand it but basically when it’s super hot and everyone else is upping the AC my unit does not turn on for a short time during the day (unless I tell it to).
Libby says
Hi MEM,
I’m in CT and paid $0.238 per KW last month. My electric bill was $86.80 for the month. My house is 768 square feet and we do have two window AC units for the really hot/humid nights.
Since you are in a two family house, I’m wondering if you are paying for some of your neighbor’s electricity. That happened to me once living in a triple-decker just outside of Boston about 25 years ago. The neighbor knew enough of how to switch over some of his wiring to my meter.
mona says
I do 2 things that have saved me a lot of money.
1. I have all my lights on a powerstrip. It is plugged in and to use I turn the strip on(only when I’m using it.)I do the same w/ computer, small appliances, TV s and all the items connect to them. The strip is turned off when I’m out or not using items.
2. I was able to discover that I was charged less on my electric bill Mon-Fri. after 9pm and Sat-Sun. all day ( I do my laundry, vac and run the dishwasher(wash/rinse only) at those times, only.
I save about $10-40 a month doing these 2 things- hope this is helpful. :]
Jenny Young says
I’m a little late chiming in here but the biggest impact on our summer cooling bills have been window units. They are not that pretty but we have one in each bedroom we use. Living in the south you have to have AC for summer nights & just cooling the bedrooms with a window unit has made a huge difference in our electric bills. Of course, our central unit is old so we assumed that was the reason for the huge drop in cooling costs. But then our son & daughter-in-law bought a newer house, less than 10 yrs old. They had such a hard time cooling their home so they bought a window unit just for the bedroom. Our son works nights so they set the central thermostat pretty high on hot summer days & he sleeps with the window unit. She turns the central off at nights & uses the central unit. It made such a huge difference they’ve decided next summer they’re adding a small window unit in the kitchen. The central unit just keeps their little house too hot.
To give perspective, our house is 1300 sq foot ranch that faces full west. The summer temps on our front stoop reach 120′. I keep the west windows covered with black out blinds during the hottest times of the day in summer & on the coldest nights in the winter (winter temps can reach 10 below here at night). Our highest electric bill this past summer was $112, with the central unit a few yrs ago it was $230. Note we did have a much cooler summer this year.
We also open the the rest of the house up at night if the temps drop below around 62. The southern humidity makes it much too uncomfortable otherwise.
We keep a fan in our hallway to help circulate air throughout the house as well.