10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Utilities Bill

Who will be able to keep the lights on?

Since everyone seems to be in cost-cutting mode these days, this might be a good time to explore ways to bring down your electricity bills by changing some simple daily habits.

Reducing your dependence on electricity will not only save you some money, it may lead you to form some healthier lifestyle habits than you do now. We can also learn to appreciate the planet we live on and leave more of it behind for future generations.

photo credit: Serge Melki

1. Use natural light

There are many benefits of sunlight according to research. I know that I feel happier and more relaxed in natural light than under artificial lights. Heliotherapy, the use of sunlight for healing, has been around for centuries.

2. Let the breeze in

If the weather is warm enough, leave the windows open so that any breeze outside can waft in. This will reduce your need for electric fans or air-conditioning.

3. Dress up at home

If the weather is cold, put on an extra sweater instead of turning up the heater. I’m amazed by friends who wear T-shirts and shorts indoors during winter. You’ll look and feel better when you take the trouble to dress up just slightly even at home.

4. Turn off the computer

Many of us leave our computers on all day even when we spend a lot of time away from the desk. Turning it off and booting it up later takes only a short while once it becomes a habit.

5. One phone is enough

In many big cities it is common now to see people with more than one mobile phone, and therefore multiple devices to charge. If the point is to stay in touch with the world then surely one mobile device suffices. 

6. Leave the car home

If you are headed anywhere near enough to walk, this is a better option for your pocket, your health, and the earth. Quite a no-brainer if you ask me.

7. Keep the mains off

This took me some getting used to, but leaving appliances plugged into the mains with the switch left on drains electricity from the sockets. Every little bit helps.

8. One light at a time

Since you can physically only be in one place at a time, there is no reason for you to leave lights on in more than one room at a time. Make it a habit to turn the light off when you leave a room, and turn in on in the room you enter. Make light your shadow, in other words – it goes only where you go.

9. Boil only what you need

Some people use hotpots to keep water hot all day, and also keep a lot of water hot this way. Imagine all that energy wasted to keep water hot when you drink it only a few times a day.

10. Listen to the silence

Turn off the TV and radio for a change and keep them off long enough to get over your initial discomfort of having no loud sounds in the house. Eventually you’ll start to hear the silence and make it your friend. It’s good for your pocket but more importantly, good for your soul.

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