How I reduced my monthly gas and electric bill by over $1200 per year

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Posted by Jim on Sep 29, 2008 64 views

In the mail today is my latest gas and electric bill from Public Service Electric and Gas. Now PSE&G supplies both our gas and electric. For those of you without gas, here are the appliances that we use has for:

Gas home heater, gas hot water heater, gas clothes dryer and gas stove in the kitchen with a gas range top and gas oven. Everything else in the house is electric. Well the Weber grill in the garage is gas tanks but we fill those or rather swap them out at the local Home Depot or Lowe’s.

We have started doing the following things and seen a major drop in our monthly gas and electric bills, both in usage and in dollars. First off, get on the annual payment plan. It forces you to budget and watch the bill. You cannot have a mild month or be on vacation and see a savings as any feedback to your efforts.

Now watch the usage in raw terms for gas and electric. And start shutting things off. Do you go to bed and leave the computer turned on? The computer monitor? How about a laptop? Count the number of computers, televisions, montiors, laptops, dvd players, cable tv set top box, direct tv boxes and Tivo’s All of that is suck up your juice.

How much? Simple - turn them all on, and go outside and watch the little spinning disks. Then go and turn them all off and watch the change in the spinning guage and spinning disks. If you do not know where your meters are, go find them right now. Thats the first step in watching yout bill. Put electrical drain into a simple form you can see right before your eyes - that spinning wildly meter.

Its getting to be fall in the US - go out and get everyone in the family a sweater to wear around the house. Something comfortable, long lasting, and meant to be worn. Not a fancy sweater to wear out, but something the kids can run around in and play and spill juice on. In other words, go shopping at Target and watch the Sunday sales.

It getting to be fall and not yet winter - open the windows and shut the heaters, AC and fans off. Let Mother Nature cool the house and warm it during the day. Fresh air is something we need more of, so bring it into your home. A tip to make the house smell better, but a large bowl of season mix potporuie or poopourie something spelled like that - in the window ledges. It decorates your home and adds a nice scent to the place.

When the kids go to bed, shut off their televisions and lights. They need sleep and they do not need the distractions. And you do not need 100 night lights in your home.

Its not Christmas shut off all those lights when you leave a room or the house. Still practice home safety, but do it with timers, proximity sensors and solar power lights.

Turn the shower on when you are ready to get in. Don’t turn the water on, go to the toilet, then start to pluck eyebrows or shave while the hot water runs down the drain.

Its fun to flush the toilet when someone is in the shower - once - Do it once then never do it again. Its part of growing up and being a family.

Where is that garden hose? Shot off the water from outside and inside the house. It doesn’t effect your gas or electric bill, but its good to do and effects your water bill, another utility you can control.

Got another tip, there are hundreds of them. The point is - start doing simple things, safe energy and safe money for your family.

Get the appliances checked now - change the filters yourself, run the broom and vacuum cleaner, wipe off the cobwebs and then have the service person to their job. Look in the paper for winter checks on your heater and hot water heater. Or ask your utility company for their rates for proactive maintance visits.

Ask yourself what you can do. Now don’t go out and throw away every light bulb and replace them with CF’s, Wait till they burn out. But look for that light that never gets used and replace it now. Look for that light that is way to bright and put a smaller bulb in its place. Open your curtains, and let the sun shine in during the day.