Easy Ways to Save on Your Energy Bill With Simple Maintenance on Appliances

By: Ed Eddmanson

People often overlook simple maintenance that could save money on your energy bill. Keeping up with regular maintenance could save as much as 5% on your energy bill. In many homes that could save thousands of dollars a year.

Heating your house is one of the most expensive parts of your energy bill. A few simple maintenance tips will quickly reduce your heating bill. A maintenance visit from a service professional can save you 1 to 2 percent a year. A clean furnace filter can have a similar effect. If your furnace is over ten years old, you could save as much as 90% of your heating bill.

After heating, cooling your house is the next biggest energy cost. Most people think you can only save money on cooling by replacing your A/C unit. However, there are other ways to reduce your cooling energy bill. Most people use less than 80% of the livable area in their home. This means that one or more rooms in your house go unused for days or even weeks at a time. You can save a great deal of energy today by simply closing off the vents and doors in these unused rooms.

Water heaters are third in line when it comes to your energy bill. Reducing the amount of hot water you use, will save money on your energy bill. There are several ways to use less water. For instance, taking a shower instead of a bath will cut back significantly. You could also install a low cost flow restrictor. This will use quite a bit less water.

Dishwashers also use a great deal of energy. They heat water to clean dishes. Then they heat the air in the dishwasher to dry dishes. Using energy savings settings during the wash and dry cycles will cut down on your energy bill immediately. Additionally, if you wait to run the dishwasher until it's full, you will save even more energy.

Using different dishes when cooking can save a lot of money. Most of the heat on your stove goes through the pan, through the food, and into the air above the stove. Simply putting a lid on your pan will trap in more heat. This will let you cook at a lower temperature and will cook food faster. When using the oven, reach for a glass or ceramic dish. Glass and Ceramics hold in heat better, so using these in the oven will have the same effect.

Almost everyone has heard of ways to save money by choosing better light bulbs. However, did you know you can save energy by cleaning your lamp shades? Clean lamp shades let more light through, so you can use lower wattage light bulbs. Painting dark walls a brilliant white can do the same thing. Rearranging you room can have a similar effect. Place your furniture near a window and use the light form the sun to cut down on lamp time.

You don't have to replace your appliances to save money on your energy bill. Following these simple suggestions can reduce your energy bill quickly. Best of all, none of these changes will cost you a significant amount of money.

Article Source: http://yourfinance.co.za

About The Author
Ed Eddmanson enjoys helping people lower your energy useage and costs with his articles. Being kind to the planet is also one of his passions. His latest websites have ideas on how to lower your energy useage and costs with a bosch tankless water heater or bosch water heater.