How to easily lower your electric bill by up to 70%

If you're like me you probably get frustrated every time you pay your electric bill.

After all, that monthly check you send off to the power company is one of your largest household expenses.

And like mine, your electric bill probably seems to go up on a regular basis.

These days most folks are doing everything they can to lower their electric usage.

While you can turn off the light when you leave a room and turn the thermostat up or down a degree or two, things like that can only do so much for reducing your electricity usage.

But there's one simple thing you can do to dramatically lower your electric bill, starting right this moment: shift your power-hungry appliance usage to off-peak hours.

For example, if you usually load your dishwasher up during the day and wash all of your dishes at once, setting the timer to wash them in the middle of the night can save you as much as 70% on the cost of the electricity the dishwasher uses.

And since clothes washers and dryers are major energy hogs, you can achieve those same incredible savings by washing and drying your clothes at night or on weekends when the electric rates are lower.

How much lower, you ask?

Well, the difference between on-peak and off-peak rates vary from one power company to the next (and a few power companies don't offer off-peak rates at all), but the difference can be substantial.

For example, according their rate chart, Appalachian Power (the electric utility that serves my area) charges $7.214 for electricity used during on-peak hours (daytime on weekdays) but only $2.195 per kilowatt hour used during off-peak hours (nights and weekends).

That means the electricity I use at night and on weekends costs approximately 70% less than the electricity I use during the daytime on Monday - Friday.

As you can see, simply moving as much of my electricity usage as possible to night-time hours and weekends saves about 70% on that electric usage. Not too shabby, right?

Of course there are some electric appliances that simply must operate around the clock (your refrigerator, heat pump and water heater for example), but most everything else can probably be shifted to one of the many off-peak hours.

If this money-saving tactic interests you I recommend that you contact your power company (or check their website) for the off-peak hours they recognize and the amount they charge for off-peak rates.

Like this post? If so, check out the archives for lots more.

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