12 Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill

Check your home for energy waste. Be frugal. Tweak your energy consumption habits and install efficient appliances and fixtures to reduce your electric bills.

Looking to cut down on  Utility costs, especially electric bills, account for a significant portion of household budgets.

In fact, the average electric bill for residential customers in the U.S. was $137 per month (or about $1,600 a year) in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

In short, it is essential to know that many homeowners unnecessarily overspend their electricity bills. There are numerous strategies to lower these costs and increase the energy efficiency of your home. First, consider revisiting your current energy plan and compare it with other available options. Often, switching providers can result in substantial savings. Investing in energy-efficient appliances or improving home insulation can significantly decrease energy consumption. Last but not least, we recommend considering the use of renewable energy options such as solar panels. Although the initial cost is high, the long-term reductions in energy bills and environmental benefits make them a worthwhile investment. 

With all that being said, in the following, your friends at Five Star Home Services will offer several tips and discuss several effective ways to reduce energy costs. 

We will cover the three major sources of energy consumption in the home: heating and cooling, power and lighting, and water usage.  

Heating and Cooling

More than half of the energy used in a modern home is used for heating and air conditioning. 

Because of this, home comfort is among the biggest culprits behind rising utility costs. Furthermore, this is the first and best places to look for cost-cutting opportunities. We recommend the following: 

Adjust your freezer and refrigerator’s temperature

Try adjusting your fridge to 37 degrees and putting your freezer to 0 degrees. Doing so should keep your food fresh, while giving your fridge and freezer a break. They won’t need to work as hard to maintain the temperature and it should reduce energy usage. 

Have an energy audit performed

We recommend giving your local professionals at Five Star Home Services a call!  

Additionally, utility providers can perform a home energy audit, and sometimes for free. They can identify ways to lower your energy consumption. An audit can also help you figure out if you have faulty seals on windows and doors or leaky ductwork. We can find air leaks that lead to increased heating and cooling costs. We can also check insulation and other things that might drain your home’s energy. We can also give you recommendations for repairs and efficient fixtures. Check with your local power company for details on how to schedule an audit. 

Give your thermostat a nudge

This is an easy one. To save money, move your thermostat up or down 7 to 10 degrees, depending on the time of year. Also, adjust it when you go to sleep or leave the home. Doing so for eight hours can lower your annual heating and air conditioning costs by around 10 percent. A programmable thermostat, however, does the work for you. The next step up from that is our next suggestion. 

Install a smart thermostat

Smart thermostats save homeowners money on energy costs. They do this by learning your schedule and temperature preferences over time. This enables them to automatically adjust the temperature when you’re away from home or asleep — which reduces energy usage. Furthermore, some smart thermostats provide energy consumption reports, allowing you to monitor and adjust your usage patterns for further savings. However, the exact amount of money saved can vary greatly depending on factors such as your individual usage habits and the climate in your location. Additionally, smart thermostats can integrate with other home automation devices, such as lighting and security systems. This integration allows for an even more efficient energy use and can further contribute to cost savings. 

Moreover, besides saving money on energy costs, smart thermostats also offer other benefits, such as convenience and increased comfort with the ability to remotely control your thermostat. For the best prices on one of these money-saving products, call Five Star Home Services today! 

Consider an upgrade

Home comfort, at times, can be so costly that you end up paying more by failing to upgrade an outdated system. Investing in energy-efficient HVAC equipment is a great way to save money on your utility bills. Not only will they consume less energy, but they will also contribute to reducing your carbon footprint and operating far more efficiently. This is because they emit fewer greenhouse gases, making them a more environmentally friendly option. 

In addition to investing in energy-efficient appliances, regular maintenance of your heating and cooling systems is crucial. It not only helps to prevent costly repairs, but it also ensures that your systems are running at their optimal efficiency. This means they will use less energy and save you money in the long run. 

Water Usage

Next up is the second-largest expense in powering most homes, according to the Energy Department, and that’s hot water. Reducing hot water usage — for showers, laundry, and dishwasher usage — can reduce your overall energy bill. 

Take shorter showers

The average standard showerhead goes through 2.5 gallons of water a minute. Because of this, trimming just two minutes off your shower time could save five gallons of water on average. Taking a shorter shower can help decrease the energy used to heat the water as well. 

Replace your showerhead

Efficient shower heads — which use no more than two gallons per minute — can decrease the average household’s water usage by up to 2,700 gallons per year, according to the EPA. For the best shower heads, find one with the WaterSense label, which is certified to meet efficiency criteria set by the EPA. 

Wash clothes in warm or cold water

Not everything needs to be hot. Using warm or cold water when you do laundry can lower your electric bill. It can also help prevent clothes from shrinking, fading and wrinkling — which is a win-win.  

Adjust the temperature on your water heater

In most homes, the default temperature setting on some water heaters is around 140 degrees. Turning it down to 120 degrees can lower your energy costs by up to 20 percent per year.  

Upgrade to energy-efficient appliances

If you’re in the market for a new washer, dishwasher, or tankless water heater, you’re in the right place. At Five Star Home Services, we have energy-efficient products to help you yield long-term savings. A dishwasher with the EPA’s Energy Star label uses 12% less energy and 30% less water on average than a regular model. We recommend prioritizing appliances that run most often, such as your TV, fridge, dishwasher, washer, and dryer. 

Ask about discounted rates

Many utility providers offer cheaper rates during times of the day when general usage is down— such as early in the day or late at night. Knowing this, you can spend less money on electricity by doing laundry and other energy-intensive chores at off-peak times. If this appeals to you, ask your power company about a time-of-use rate plan. 

Power and lighting

Last but not least, we move on to lighting and power. Did you know keeping the lights on accounts for roughly 15% or more of the average home’s energy consumption? So, how can we curb this? Your friends here at Five Star Home Services offer some simple solutions. 

Switch to LED lighting

Did you know you can save an average of $225 annually by swapping out incandescent bulbs and old light fixtures with LEDs? Doing so will certainly help you cut costs, and making the switch to LEDs is unavoidable. Energy Department efficiency rules that recently went into effect will take most incandescent bulbs off the market. Look for lighting products that bear the Energy Star label. 

Install dimmer switches

Dimmers let you set the brightness in a room to suit your needs, setting the mood and saving electricity. 

Installing dimmer switches can result in significant energy savings. When you dim the lights, less electricity is used by the light bulb. Notably, a light dimmed by 25% uses approximately 20% less electricity, whereas a light dimmed by 50% saves nearly 40% on energy usage. This reduction is not only beneficial for your wallet but also contributes to environmental sustainability by lowering your overall energy consumption. 

Use smart power strips

Many electronic gadgets — like smart TVs, computers, and speakers — never actually power off fully. Instead, they sit in standby mode using a trickle of power. This “trickle” can account for up to 5% to 10% of home energy use. This comes to about $100 a year on average. We recommend plugging these electronics into a smart power strip, which cuts off the flow of power when the devices aren’t being used. Power strips with a manual on/off switch is another good option. 

Call our local electricians for more information!

Trying a few of these tips is a great place to start. You can monitor your electric bill for savings in the months ahead. We encourage you to work up to more changes to compound what you save in energy and money. In the meantime, if you have additional questions or you are interested in an upgrade, call Five Star Home Services right away!  

We are here to help with all your residential electrical, HVAC and plumbing needs! We proudly serve Greater Columbus, Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati.