Do you feel stressed when your electric bill comes in each month? Do you wonder how it could possibly cost so much? Try using these 3 tips to cut your electric bill in half! They worked for me and I’m sure they can work for you too.
3 TIPS TO CUT YOUR ELECTRIC BILL IN HALF
This post may contain affiliate links.
UNPLUG
When my now-husband and I first moved in together, I remember thinking he was nuts for unplugging everything.
I was used to leaving everything plugged in all the time.
Trying to save money on bills was a completely foreign concept to me. I just wanted convenience!
I didn’t want to wait 2 minutes for my cable box to boot up when I wanted to watch TV. It was easier press a button and have it turn on.
I didn’t want to go looking for my phone charger when I wanted to charge my phone. It was easier for it to be right in the outlet, where I had left it.
Maybe that’s not a good idea even if you’re not trying to save money…
We would argue about this all the time. He’d unplug things and I’d plug them back in.
Sometimes I would plug things back in even if I didn’t need to use them, just for them to be plugged in.
I was so sure that it was all in his head. I was convinced no way you could actually save money by unplugging things!
And if we did save anything, it would probably only be a few dollars. A few dollars was not worth it!
So my husband and I conducted an experiment to see how much we could really save on our electric bill. We spent one month leaving everything plugged in.
We would turn things off, but we didn’t unplug anything. So, our Keurig would stay plugged in, but we would turn it off if we weren’t making coffee (or going to be making coffee soon).
Then, the following month we unplugged everything. Everything that we weren’t using got unplugged.
Well, almost everything.
We didn’t start unplugging our large appliances or anything too crazy. But all our small appliances (toaster, Keurig, blender) got unplugged.
We also unplugged our TVs, Blu-ray players, and speakers when we weren’t using them.
This was actually super easy because they were all plugged into a surge protector. So, to turn them off we just needed to turn the surge protector off.
That literally requires pressing a button.
We walked around and anything we could unplug we did.
This didn’t mean that we would use anything less than we normally would. We just plugged them back in when we needed them and unplugged them again when we were done.
And the result…
I WAS WRONG!
We saved so much money!
Our electric bill was almost half of what is was the month before! I could not believe it!
The other part about this that (in my opinion) is important:
After a month of unplugging everything… I got used to it. It became a habit and a part of my routine. I began unplugging things without thinking about it.
Also, I was no longer annoyed when I had to plug things back in because I knew exactly how much money it was saving us. That made a few seconds of inconvenience worth it to me.
We have been doing this for years now, and I never even give it a second thought. It’s just part of my routine.
I encourage you to do this experiment on your own if you don’t believe me! See how much money you could save. It may vary by your electric provider but I’d bet you’ll save a significant amount.
- Related: How to Analyze and Cut Expenses
CHARGE IN THE CAR
To save more on your electric bill, you want to use less electricity. One easy way to do this is to charge your devices in the car instead of in the house.
Car chargers are inexpensive and it’ll make up its cost in savings.
I pretty much only charge my phone in the car. I just automatically plug it in whenever I get in the car.
If your car allows you to plug in USB cords, you can charge other devices in the car too.
I’ve charged my iPad and kindle in the car. Most devices come with a USB charger and can be charged in the car. If you’re unsure about it, I recommend doing a quick Google search “device name, charge in the car”.
FIND BETTER SOURCES OF LIGHT
If you’re still using incandescent (read: old) light bulbs, switch them out for LED. LED bulbs use up to 85% less energy. They cost more to purchase, but you’ll come out on top in the long run. Aside from the benefit that you’ll see when your electric bill comes in, LED light bulbs last much longer. They last up to 22 years! It depends on how much you use them. I assume they won’t last quite as long if you leave the light on all day every day. But they’ll definitely last longer than a regular bulb!
A Note about LED bulbs: We’ve tried out several brands of LED bulbs. Phillips by far the best brand we’ve come across. We’ve tried Cree brand and had to return them. We also tried TCP brand bulbs, which broke shortly after putting them in. We contacted the company through their website twice and they never responded to us. So I’d stay away from TCP for sure. You can purchase LED bulbs at Home Depot or Lowe’s but we’ve found their more affordable on Amazon. Here is a great deal on a 6-pack of Phillips LED bulbs on Amazon.
And of course, if the sun is out, open your blinds and let in the natural (and free) light!
YOU CAN CUT YOUR BILL TOO
We were able to cut our electric bill in half just by unplugging, charging in the car and switching to better light sources. Try these 3 tips to cut your electric bill in half today and see if they work as well for you as they did for us!
Psst… Want to save even more? Hop on my email list here. It’s my favorite place to give you money saving tips and insights that I just don’t share anywhere else. Plus you’ll get lots of free financial tools just for signing up.
Don’t click away so soon! Here are some of my best posts:
Beginner’s Guide to Being Frugal
7 Frugal Habits that can save you Thousands
How to get a Good Deal on a Car when you’re not good at negotiating
How to Get Paid for Shopping Online
You can read more about my story here: A Spender and A Saver Fall in Love
Great tips but LEDs I will only have for my bike due to the eye issues the flickering rate at which LEDs function.
Great ideas. I’m going to start with trying to unplug things. I also need to be mindful of things like our ceiling fans that are constantly running when we are not home. So much energy that I could be saving and money too!
thanks for the information
We have programmable thermostats and hybrid HVAC units. They pay for themselves.
That’s great!
Turning off ceiling fans when you’re not in the room will save as well.
We had a walk through done you are Electrical Company on how to save money on our bill. They said it cost $8 a day per ceiling fan when they’re left running. That alone decreased my bill comma I’m going to start unplugging today period every little thing helps
I convinced my hubby to try the unplugging thing for at least a month and we unplugged everything except large appliances (stove, washer/dryer) and our alarm clock & coffee pot because we didn’t want to have to reset the time every day or not have our auto-brew for the mornings. And we left our main cable/dvr plugged in so it would tape shows, but turned the big tv and all other equipment in the downstairs family room off each night before bed. Our electric bill was almost cut in half! I already have lower bills due to being very conscious with the heating/cooling/thermostat, but I was amazed at how much more we saved doing this. It’s a small pain the first few days, but after that you get used to it and its no big deal. Hubby was convinced its worth it after our test so we will continue. Its not the first time I heard this advice, but the way you conveyed how you didn’t believe it would work, and tested it both ways too see is what convinced me it was worth trying, so thank you!
Thank you for these tips. I have items all over my house that are plugged in and hardly ever used!! They’re getting unplugged today!
I have a pretty low electric bill already. I use a energy efficient bulbs, don’t turn on lights unless I absolutely need them and don’t leave lights on in rooms I’m not in. I will now try unplugging items next month and see what difference it makes in my bill. Thanks for the tips.
Turn off your hot water systems during the day too , turn it on to boil so you have hit water for a shower then turn it off again 🙂 otherwise it’s just re heating itself multiple days a day
Hey Heather!
I just wanted to say I read this post a month ago when you first posted Your 1st month’s blogging results (awesome btw!) in the PBS FB Mastermind Group and I unplugged EVERYTHING because our electric bill was $190. Well, after a month of being very strict about it, I just got my next electric bill=$108! IT WORKED! Thanks for the tips! My bill was almost cut in half as well!
I just decided to do this last night before seeing this on Pinterest this morning. Hope it works! Thanks for the surge protector tip!
I don’t think we’ve actually had a problem with our electric bill, even if we don’t unplug. I do usually turn off everything when I’m not using it. My BF thought me turning of lights and stuff in other rooms was weird.
He doesn’t like plugging things in his car, though. I forgot why. We often use pocket juices or other places anyway. 😛
I will have to try an “unplugging experiment,” like you to use science to sell the idea here. 😉 I hang dry most of my clothes (not socks & underwear, & indoors when it’s cold outside), & I put mirrors under lamps & on the wall behind lamps, and strategically placed across from windows to make the most of natural light. 10″x10″ mirrors were really cheap at Home Depot or Lowes. Between the hang drying & mirrors, we saw a significant savings on our electric bill. 🙂
I would if I could convince my husband we need to unplug. I want to try this so bad. Thanks for the great tips!
I didn’t realize that unplugging could make that much of a difference. I’ll have to try an experiment of my own.
Great tips but I may have to have my DVR plugged in I May not live without it. Lol. Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Sharing onTwitter! Have a great week!
Kim
I had heard about unplugging everything, but I never imagined it would make that big of a difference! I’ll have to start doing that!
I do have to say that unplugging everything definitely helps. Right now I really only try to make sure that the easier things like my laptop, cell phone chargers, fans and such are unplugged. I am considering my entertainment center next.
Thanks for the tips and thanks for linking up to the Merry Monday link party!
We hope to see you again next week!
Kate | TheOrganizedDream.com
Ok, I’m about to sound REALLY STUPID!….Are you ready?…I honestly did not know that things were using electricity just because they’re plugged in….DUH! What an excellent tip this is! Especially with the holidays coming up. I can use $ wherever I can get it! Thank you! #smallvictoriessundaylinkup
Stopping by from Turn it Up Tuesday. These are great tips! I’ll have to try them out. Always trying to save some money.
Great ideas! I really need to start unplugging, too. Thanks for sharing at Totally T. T.
Wow! Great tips! I will def try them.
So many great tips! Our electric bill is absolutely ridiculous. I’m going to talk to my family about unplugging. Thanks so much for such useful advice.