Reduce Your Electric Bill with a Twist of the Wrist

Larry — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:24:34 +0000

Simple Solutions to Reduce Your Electric Bill.

Everyone is looking for ways to save money but saving money implies you have actually have extra money to set aside. For many of us, that’s not the case.

Many of us are just looking for ways to cut costs, spend less money, and just make ends meet. So if you’re anything like me, finding ways to cut costs is a top priority.

One of the easiest ways to cut cost, is to use less energy. And here are a few energy saving tips for doing just that.

So here we go.

Insulate the Following

Garage door
Water heater
Attic
Water pipes
Seal around doors and windows

All of these do it yourself projects will help you save money by using less energy.

And here’s a few others you’ve probably heard of too, but these are very simple, easy and inexpensive to implement.

One obvious energy saving technique, which many of us forget at times, is simply turning off lights when they’re not needed.

Outdoor Sensors and Timers

Consider using sensors or timers for outdoor night lights and garages. A motion light will save quite a bit of energy compared to leaving a porch light on all night and be less offensive to the neighborhood. Anyway, it is suppose to be dark at night.

By far, the fastest way to save energy and cut cost is to reduce the amount of power needed to operate the lighting in your home and/or business. The simplest way to accomplish this is to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

These energy saving lights have come a long way in the past few years. They’re more efficient and come in almost any size and type you’ll need.

Compact Fluorescent

Compact fluorescent bulbs use less wattage (power) to provide the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs. So changing over just makes sense.

You see, an 18 watt compact fluorescent provides the same amount of light, about 1000 lumen’s, as a standard 60-watt incandescent bulb. So by changing just one bulb you’re using 65% less energy. Make sense now.

DIY Tip: An easy rule of thumb for choosing compact fluorescent bulbs is to choose one that’s about one-third the wattage of the incandescent you would normally buy.

For commercial lighting applications that use T12 fluorescent’s, make the change to T8 bulbs. Check for “over lighting” (the number of lights needed to light up a particular area). Also adjust the timer settings on your outdoor lighting (e.g. buildings, landscaping and parking lots).

Check out this energy star site for more information on compact fluorescent’s and fixtures.

DIY Tip: Don’t confuse “reduced wattage” incandescent bulbs with true compact fluorescent bulbs. These “reduced wattage” bulbs simply give you less light.

DIY’ism: Saving energy creates a better world today.

If you have questions about your DIY projects, just ask your Personal DIY Consultant. I’m here to help you succeed with speed.

DIY Tip: “The Complete Guide to Wiring” has all the information you’ll need to tackle most DIY home electrical projects. It’s filled with excellent easy to understand instructions, pictures and diagrams.

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