10 Quick Energy Saving Tips

Summer is presently in the air and the winter's cold has finally ended. But what hasn't changed is having to carefully watch your power usage or face the consequences on your next electric bill.

Even cheap electricity rates can't save someone money if they're constantly accompanied by wasteful energy habits.

Listed below are 10 easy-to-remember energy saving tips that will help you to reduce your power usage.

1. Clean your AC Filters - Make sure to take your AC filters out and clean them at least once a month. An easy way of doing this task is outside with an air compressor, or carefully vacuuming the filters on spread-out newspaper.
2. Use LED Bulbs - Incandescent bulbs are outdated and can't compete with LEDs in almost every way. They use much less energy and can last nearly 50 times longer than incandescents. An average LED light bulb will last up to 11 years.
3. Watch your Fan Use - Fans are a great way of keeping cool, but they can also use a lot of power. Make sure to position your fans in the most efficient direction, and always make sure to turn them off when they're not in use.
4. Don't Create More Heat - Save doing all of your heat creating tasks for later; IE: Cooking, laundry, and automatic dishwashing - either for the early morning hours or in late afternoons when the temperature tends to be cooler.
5. Use Your Curtains - Don't let the sun bake the inside of your house, close the curtains during the daytime when the sun is at its fullest, then help to cool off the house after sunset by opening them back up again.
6. Heat Rises so Stay Low - Use the bottom floor rooms of your house, especially cool basements in order to beat the summer heat, and naturally keep your AC bills down.
7. Nest your Home - Smart thermostats have become more accessible to the average household and are priced at around $240 dollars; a cost that's easily recovered in a years' worth of energy savings. "Smart" temperature settings can then properly track and control when the HVAC is running, and where, all at the touch of a smartphone.
8. Clear your Vents - An energy efficient home requires full ventilation in order to properly work right. Moving all potentially blocking objects from in front of HVAC vents, like furniture, boxes, etc. can significantly help to reduce your power usage.
9. Cook Wisely - Try to plan your meals so that you can use microwaves, slow cooking low-temperature crockpots, or have an outdoor barbecue rather than using hot ovens or stove burners.
10. Seal Doors and Windows - Just like in the winter when you need to make sure that you're insulated from the outside cold. In the summer, you must also protect yourself from the outdoor heat that's seeping into your house, increasing your energy bills.

One of the perks of using less power is that many electric suppliers have cash-back incentive plans, offered to customers who agree to use under a set amount of kilowatt-hours per billing cycle. Going green can actually save you some hard earned green. Besides leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the World, you will also have a smaller electric bill every month? Now that's something everyone can appreciate.