While we are waiting to get the necessary items to get Off The Grid, there are several ways we can lower our utility bill. Just by managing what is already in place, we can reduce consumption considerably by applying a few good old fashioned frugality practices.
Listen to your mother! Didn't she constantly say "turn off the light when you leave the room." That is good advice. Also, turn off the tv and whatever else is on. The dog will not mind. He really isn't watching.
Unplugging things really does make sense. Just because the toaster and the coffee maker are not on, doesn't mean they aren't using power. They are still drawing energy. So unplug them. It's not that big a deal to just plug it up when you are using it and unplug it when you're not.
When you leave the house, turn the thermostat up (in summer) to just ten degrees below the anticipated high for the day. Same in summer, turn it down to ten degrees cooler than you like it. When you come in it will feel fine until it has time to recover after you reset it. A programmable thermostat will do that for you, but right now we are not spending money, just saving it.
Don't run the dishwasher till it's full. Then, don't leave the drying feature on. Let them air dry in the machine. If you are cooking, do more than one meal at the time, and more than one thing in the oven at once. You will be glad tomorrow to be able to just warm something in the microwave. Using the oven not only uses power for cooking, it heats the house and takes more to cool it.
Hang your clothes out to dry. Put them in the dryer for just the last 15 minutes.
These few painless tips will help save on your bill. Then take time to investigate some alternate power sources. Several of these are listed in another post.
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