Save money on your electric bill!

Guys, we have been washing on cold for years. Yes, even your whites get clean. We use just a little Oxyclean in the wash with the whites to be sure things get as clean as possible. Give it a try!

One way to help with the electric bill is do not have the blinds open during the hottest part of the day.  One other way is to use room darking blinds or shades.   they help keep the house cooler and the ac doesn't work as hard

1. Turn lights off in any room you are not currently in (turn them off behind you).
2. Run a fan in the summer instead of the AC.
3. Close the blinds in the summer and open them in the winter. When closing them in the summer, point them upwards inside the house and downwards at the ground outside (most people point them in the incorrect direction).
4. Run an air purifier every other day instead of contiuously.
5. You mentioned laundry. Try using warm (on the cooler side) for whites.
6. I also heard that cell phone chargers draw power when not in use.  Unplug 'em.

My husband and I are the ultimate savers! We saved over $25,000 our first year of marriage to buy our first house and last year we saved $20,000 to buy a bigger truck to fit our first baby on the way, and this year we're saving to pay of his student loans! We think about our future with every purchase we make.
We plug in our tv, dvd, and stereo into a single power supply and turn it off every night, saving on power that the equipment is pulling even when it is turned off.
I've sacrificed my hair appointments, letting my natural hair color grow and now my husband even cuts my hair for me!! I know it's a hard one to talk about, but that $100 every other month pays off!
During the summer months, we both ride our bikes to working saving a bunch on gas money.
We always pack a home-made salad for lunch with us work, and I cook dinner every night, and on those days that I really don't feel like cooking or doing the dishes, we go to Taco Bell and only spend $7 total. We only order water...soda's are bad for you anyways!
I'm 30 years old and 6 months pregnant, trying to make a difference and hoping to teach our child to be smart with money!

Save on Food: We have a family of 7 and only spend less than $200 a wk on Groceries. We get name brand stuff, meat, milk, etc... We host people all the time and have a stockpile of stuff also....for us it is a real deal...

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

we do our laundry in the morning before school/work....Throw your clothes in the dryer for about 10 mins, sort them, then hang them up to dry in the door ways. This saves electricty, plus when you get home, if you sorted the laundry, your clothes are in your door way, waiting to be put away. =)

My mom's pretty clever.

tips on how to save on your electrical bill:
1. unplug your toaster oven, even when you are not toasting something it still draws electricity.
2. make it a habit to turn off lights when you are not in a room, even if you are coming right back. Every second counts!
And yes cell phone chargers do draw electricity when not in use as do lap top, camera and mp3 chargers!

If you have an elderly person or handicapped person that lives in your home you can sign up for Medical Baseline with you Electric Company. It offers you a certain amount of kilowatts or whatever the measurement is for free and then I believe a discounted price after that.  I have a child who has a brain injury and part of her condition is that she doesn't regulate her body temperature well.  She's not as bad with the cold, but in the heat she just gets hotter and hotter.  When it first starts to warm up in the spring and the rest of us think it's so nice she is red faced and burning up.  It has been a huge blessing to our family to have that help available, especially since we really do need to keep our house at a constant temperature for her.  You just need a doctor to sign a form.  It is actually mainly for people who have to run medical equipment in their home, but can be used for other reasons if the doctor approves it.  
Also, we live in central CA.  It usually gets up to 110-115 in the hottest part of the summer.  We put heat blocking curtains up on all our big windows and keep them closed like all summer...or at least when the sun is shining directly in them, we have definitely noticed a difference with that.    

When trying to keep lights turned off in a room, like a bathroom, install a switch with a built in timer that will shut off after 10, 20 or 30 min.
This is great for young kids.

there are peak hours for use of electric which are usually between 9:am&7:30-8:pm if you wait until after these hrs the cost of kilo watts is cheaper because the amount of people using power is decreased.house wives are cleaning and using alot of power during these hrs.

Here's one way I'm able to save not only on my electric bill, but my gas bill, water bill AND food bill. I let my teenaged daughter go to a friend's house after and stay the night there. Of course THEIR bills are higher, but mine certainly go downQ

I meant to say "after school". Sorry about that!

I meant to say "after school". Sorry about that!

Plant one or more shade trees strategically around your house. In the summer time, the shade will drastically cut down your cooling bill. If you pick the right type of tree it will lose its leaves in the winter letting that now wanted sunlight into your windows. Many cities like mine will give rebates up to $30 a tree to do this.

   I wash our clothes in cold water.  Since my husband has allergies, I put the dryer on the lowest setting possible, but I also keep a few dry clothes in the dryer, it speeds up drying time.

I set my dishwasher's timer to come on several hours after we have done to bed so as not to use electricity in peak hours.  It also eliminates having to listen to it run and try to talk above the noise it makes!  I also have bought a drying rack for clothes.  I toss the whites in the dryer for a few minutes and then hang them out to dry the rest of the way.  I do the same with all other loads except that I hang those up in door ways to dry! You would be amazed at how just bumping your AC up a degree or heat down a degree or two will make a difference.  Your body adjusts quickly.

One of the comments you read on the air mentioned turning off lights and appliances whenever they were not in use, such as when you left the room. One thing most people don't realize is that electrical appliances have inrush or start up current that can use 10 minutes or more of electricity when they are first turned on. One caution I have is that if you run around turning lights off and on and there is not much time in between, you might actually use more electricity. It is also true that most appliances have a shorter life span if they are switched of and on frequently, and will increase replacement costs. I am not emoloyed by an electric company! What does make sense is to turn off everything you can if it will be left off for some time, such as overnight. Many appliances do use a substantial amount of electricity when switched off, but plugged in. Another misconception I have noticed is people using ceiling fans while cutting back on their air conditioner. It does make sense to do this in an occupied room. These fans cool your skin because of air movement, but they actaully heat the air and should not be left running for extended periods of time in an unoccupied room. This heats the air and actually makes the air conditioner run more.
Mike

If you have electric heating turn down your heat to around 60 or 55 degrees. Its funny because you all were just talking about chasing your kids around telling them to turn off the lights. I am always doing that.

This has nothing to do with the electric bill, but I just had to say that Scott sounds SOOOOOOOOOOO similar to Matthew West with his allergy voice!!  Could you please sing a few verses of "Save A Place For Me" over the radio just for fun?  Just a little challenge!!  Are you going to take it on!?!  I've tried getting through to KLOVE's 800 # for the last 2 hours and thought I'd try this to see if you'll take my challenge, Scott!!

Unplug your stuff when not in use, such as the toaster (lamps, ect.), when you use it just plug it in and when your done unplug it, very easy and will save you.

I have been making my own laundry detergent and fabric softener for the couple of months and love it.  It cost around $1.00 for 2 1/2 gallons.

If you have electric heating you can turn the heat down to 60 or 55 degrees and  save electricity.You guys on the radio were just talking about how you would have to chase your kids around and watch them every second to make sure they were turning lights and fans off, well i have to do that everyday! When you leave the room turn the lights off its that easy, and every night we turn the main power devices off and if its hot @ night instead of using the fans we just open the windows.

theres a bunch you can do such as get energy saving light bulbs they make the in almost every size you can think of even the long florsecent ones. You can unplug electronics such as you tv dvd player etc as they use power even when there not turned on u can save alot of money just by unpluging. you can use solar panles for alot they even make small solar powerd cell phone chargers i have one myslef. and in alot of places if you buy a power producing windmill the power company  will actually pay you if you are generating more power than you are using.

I always turn the furnace down in the winter one degree for every hour I am going to be out of the house.  So for a normal work day about 9 degrees and then when I get home I turn it back up.  Same goes for A/C.  Cold water for washing clothes, change furnace filter every month, set your computer to hibernate when not in use and turn it off before going to bed (see power options under the control panel).  Buy 12 volt converter for your car to charge your cell phones, laptops and electronics while driving.

This time of year it is warm during the day and cooler at night. Instead of running your A/C all night (even on automatic) turn the thermostat to your desired temperature and when you get there, turn your A/C completely off. Your house should stay cool all night. This will probably only work for a couple of months. Every little bit helps.

Install an Attic fan, no not celing fans, Attic Fan.  You may not use the AC but a few weeks out of the year.   HHHmmmm, I like the idea of not using electricity on one day of the week.
Love ya, God Bless
What was the first century AC, A Tree?

Thanks on how to save money on your electric bills, and other bills pending. Thanks Klove