Roger Mckinney
20 October 2010

	Save Money by Conserving Energy

	Does anyone want to save money on their home’s next electricity bill? If the answer is yes, then I have great news! By easily changing a few habits, settings, and light bulbs, one can get substantial savings on the next electricity bill. And, best of all, a lot of the following tips are easy to implement. That means anyone should be able to start saving money by following these simple tips.

	The bedroom would be a great place to start looking for ways to save money. For example, installing light dimmers in place of standard light switches would help to save power by giving the owner the ability to dim the lights, thus limiting their power usage. Also, limit night time television viewing. Reading a book is a great substitute to watching the tube.  Finally, turning down the thermostat for the heating and air at night is a big money saver.

	Next, focus on the living room; it is full of ways to conserve energy. For instance, as in the bedroom, installing dimmer switches in place of standard light switches to control power use. Another lighting option for the living room would be to switch to fluorescent light bulbs instead of standard light bulbs. They use up to 75% less energy than old incandescent bulbs. Also, maintaining a slightly lower setting on the heating and air thermostat than usual will give a great gain in savings. Changing the air filter in the furnace will help it run much more efficiently.  Also, as with the bedroom, limiting television viewing or finding a substitute will lower power usage.  Powering computers down when they aren’t in use is also a good tip. Finally, if the house has old windows it would be a good idea to take a look at replacing them with new, highly insulated windows. Windows are usually the biggest culprit when one is faced with high utility bills.

	Finally, the largest savings can be found in the kitchen and utility areas.  For instance, in the kitchen, try to use the oven and stove top as little as possible.  Small appliances, in many cases, can be used instead of the oven. For example, use a toaster oven instead to bake small pizzas. Also, reheat leftovers in the microwave. In the utility area, the place to look for savings is the washer and dryer. Doing full loads of laundry instead of a lot of small loads is a great way to save because washing machines use roughly the same electricity for small loads as they do for large. It makes sense to do only full loads. Additionally, air drying clothes when possible instead of using the dryer is clearly a better solution. Lastly, turning the setting on the water heater lower will save the juice too.
As anyone can see, these tips aren’t hard to follow. Even I was able to implement quite a few of the suggestions. Even better, I’ve managed to save myself nearly 1/3 off of my usual electricity bill in the process. If I was able to do it, anyone will be too.