So you have your own apartment now, and you’ve started getting electric bills and they are MUCH more than you thought they would be! What’s that all about? You didn’t have that much factored into your budget. What can you do to lower the cost of your electric bills?
The good news is you can do a bunch of things to help lower your energy costs. Your Energy habits are the primary way you can lower your electric bill. Let’s take a look at what uses the most electricity in your apartment, what you should be paying each month, and some very simple things you can do to stop wasting energy and keep more money in your pocket.
What Uses The Most Electricity In My Apartment?
The largest portion of your electric bill is going to go towards heating and cooling your apartment. As an item, this is going to be the single biggest usage. It takes energy to heat your apartment, and energy to take the heat out of your apartment. So, it is essential that you do everything you can to help these two systems out, as you will see the biggest overall benefit when you get your electric bill in the mail.
The easiest and cheapest thing to do is to Change Your Air Filter Every 3 Months. Your Furnace and Air Conditioner have fans inside of them that push the hot or cold air all through your apartment. But before that air gets to you, it is pushed through a filter that removed allergens, dust, and other particles that can be harmful to the body.
When the air filter gets clogged, it makes it harder for the furnace and air conditioner to push that air through the system and out into your apartment. Air filters are going to get dirty; this is how you know they are doing their job. Air filters are cheap and easy to replace. Most of them you just pick up from inside the door of the furnace and drop the new one in and you are good to go for another 3 months.
You can get these filters for under $10 each without looking too hard. But if you don’t even want to spend THAT amount of money, call up your manager or landlord and ask if they have some filters that you can have to replace your old ones. More than likely they have some on hand for when they are flipping other units. They want to keep the condition of their furnaces as good as possible for as long as possible, and it takes a TON of time for them to come and replace all the filters in everyone’s apartment.
Simply asking them for the filters yourself may be all that is needed for some to show up at your door free of charge. After all, you are not only saving yourself money and keeping the air in your apartment clean, you are doing them a big favor as well!
The second main way you can help lower your monthly heating and cooling costs is by buying a Smart Thermostat. Smart Thermostats work even better than programmable thermostats because they learn your heating and cooling habits and can react in real-time to temperature changes based on the time of day, and if anyone is actually in the apartment.
Most energy companies have promotions and rebates that help people get Smart Thermostats installed in their apartment. Many times, these rebates will literally offset the cost of getting a smart thermostat completely, meaning it is FREE as long as you install it! Check with your energy company to see what rebates they have going, or even at Home Depot or Lowe’s, as they will many times have them advertised as well.
The Smart Thermostat is not only going to learn your usage and behaviors, when you come and go from your apartment, what temperature you like it at and when, and when are the downtimes when the furnace or A/C doesn’t need to be running full blast because nobody is there. This is going to save you a ton of money on your energy bill!
The best thing is, once the Smart Thermostat is connected, you will have the ability to control the setting and temperature from your phone, no matter where you are at! It is a really neat piece of technology you can get for next to nothing that will save you money month after month in your apartment.
How Much Is The Average Monthly Electric Bill In An Apartment?
So how much are you paying for your electric bill each month? Is it about average, or are you possibly paying way more than you should?
In the United States, the average monthly cost for electricity for a one-bedroom apartment ranged between $60-90. This cost is going to go up if you have more than one bedroom, if you have high ceilings or a loft apartment, or have multiple people living in your apartment with you.
Your electric bill may be higher or lower than this, as it is just an average range. If you are coming in below this range, great!! But that doesn’t mean you can’t lower your bill even further. And if you are on the high end of this range or above it, these tips are going to help you bring your bill down to a more manageable level.
Remember, the larger apartment you have, the higher your energy costs are going to be. The same thing goes with the number of people you have living in your apartment. The more people that are using things inside the apartment, the higher the cost of energy is going to be to run them all.
Ways You Can Lower The Electrical Bill In Your Apartment
Energy companies in the United States estimate that over 35% of all the actual energy used by consumers is wasted due to appliances and other machines running needlessly when they don’t have to be.
Other solutions, such as modern lightbulbs and smart thermostats can do wonders for your energy costs. Let’s take a look at a few simple things that can have a big impact on your electric bill.
Use LED Light Bulbs
Lighting in your apartment is something you are going to use each and every day no matter what part of the country your apartment is located in. The Department Of Energy shows that around 5% of the energy a resident uses goes straight to lighting. This means that if you can find a way to light your apartment more efficiently, it can have a noticeable impact on your electric bill.
LED(Light-Emitting Diode) lights are MUCH more efficient than incandescent lamps. Incandescent bulbs waste 90% of their energy as HEAT, not light. This means you are literally wasting energy every time you turn on the lights.
LEDs on the other hand, use only about 20% of the energy as incandescent bulbs and last about 20 times longer!! Imagine a light bulb lasting over 20 years! That’s what LEDs can do! Not only that, many of them can be programmed to show different light temperatures and colors, straight from your phone. So not only are you getting the energy savings you are looking for, you are going to experience a whole new world of lighting your apartment!
Change Your Furnace Filter
As we mentioned before, changing the air filters in your furnace and A/C, depending on what system you have, can save you a lot of money. Up to half of all the electricity you are going to use in your apartment is going to go to heating and cooling your apartment. So, any way you can help these two systems out is going to lower your bill.
When your air filter gets older, I’m talking about the 3-month range, it becomes clogged with dirt and other particles which make it hard for the HVAC system to push air through your apartment. This means the machines are working harder than they need to, which is costing you money.
Replacing the filter every 3 months, preferably one with a high MERV rating will keep your air clean, and the cost of moving that air down.
Lower Your Water Heater’s Temperature
This may be a solution you may or may not be able to control. If you have an apartment that has its own water heater, see if you can turn down the temperature it keeps the water at. The higher the temperature it is set at, the more energy is needed to keep it at that temperature, and most of the time, you aren’t using it, so it is just wasted energy.
If you don’t have your own water heater, you may be out of luck on this solution, but it is good to find out if you have your own, because it is something that you can control.
Wash Large Loads Of Clothes
Washers and driers use electricity by the boatload! They must run electric motors in both machines, which takes up an incredible amount of energy every time they run.
Conserve electricity usage by running larger loads of laundry less frequently. This is going to save both on water costs, and on electricity costs.
Turn Your Electronics Off Completely
Shutting off all the appliances and machines you have in your apartment is going to save money passively, especially when you are not in your apartment.
Desktops, laptops, satellite and cable receivers, and even Xboxes and Playstations are all-consuming power when they are left in Standby-Mode. Even though you aren’t actively using them, they are still using electricity to stay on and active.
Simply shutting these things down completely when you aren’t using them is going to have a noticeable impact on your electricity bill.
Run An Energy-Efficient Kitchen
Are you trying to do baking in the middle of the summer while your A/C is running full blast to try and keep your apartment cool? If so, you are waging a losing battle not only with the heat in your apartment but with your electricity bill as well.
The same goes for your stove. Are you using the stove to heat up water for something? Your stove is going to use MUCH more electricity than your microwave is to heat that same amount of water up.
And if you are going to run your oven, unless it is in the wintertime, do your best to help out your A/C by keeping your window and porch door open to vent the heat from your apartment naturally.
Do everything you can to help yourself keep your electrical costs low. Doing some common sense things in the kitchen is going to go a long way in helping you do this.
Controlling your energy habits is the best way to lower your electrical bill.
Look at how you are using your energy in your apartment. Can you replace some lightbulbs with LEDs to make them more efficient? Maybe run a few loads of laundry to save both water and power. And make sure your air filters are clean and replaced every few months to keep the air in your apartment running easily and efficiently.
Doing these few things is going to have a big impact on your electric bill.
