by Leo Soderman

Created on: August 26, 2009

Five Quick and Easy Ways To Cut Your Electric Bill

There is no doubt that most folks are looking for ways to cut costs in the home, and one of the best places you can change a few pennies is your electric bill. Depending on where you live, your bill can soar when you hit your electric companies higher pricing tiers. The bset way to avoid this "sticker shock" is to find easy - and painless - ways to save on your electric bill.

TIP #1 - Kill the vampires

Energy vampires are those little things in your home that continually steal power. How many phone chargers, MP3 players, satellite receivers and other devices do you have in your home that constantly draw power? Take a look around, and you'll be surprised. Even if your phone isn't connected, the charger can still steal power 24/7, running up your bill silently.

Computers can have the same effect. Use your computer's power saving features to power down when you are not using it. Most computers are idle the vast majority of the day. Don't let that idle time swell your electric bill.

TIP #2 - Take control of your AC

The heating and cooling units in your home can send your bills into the stratosphere, but you can stop that by taking better control. Head down to your local home improvement store and pick up a new programmable thermostat. They are relatively inexpensive, and give you flexibility while still providing comfort.

Many folks have these in their homes, and don't know how to properly operate them. Just setting your thermostat warmer or cooler by a couple of degrees can be helpful, but letting your house get too warm (or cold), then trying to bring it back into the comfort zone can be counterproductive. Look for a thermostat that has multiple settings for each day. Most thermostats allow for four settings daily. Use the first for the temperature you'd like in the home for when you wake up. The second should be your "Away" temperature, the temperature for when you are at work or otherwise out of the house. Ideally, set this to 78-80 degrees F, with a start time, within 15 minutes of the normal departure time of the last person out of the house.

Your third setting should be your "Home" setting. This is the temperature you'd like to feel in the house when you return. The key here is to allow at least 30 minutes from the time you usually return to cool the house. So, if you normally return at 5:00pm, set your "Home" setting to start at 4:30pm. By the time you get home, you should find it just the right

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