my electricity bill has been creeping up for months no matter what I do. LEDs, thermostat tweaks, unplugging random stuff help a bit but not enough to really make a dent. summer and winter are the worst, so it feels like heating and cooling are eating most of the energy.
I’ve been reading about ways to lower bills long term and one thing that keeps coming up is upgrading the HVAC. buying a new system outright feels insane to me, but leasing or service plans where maintenance is included seem like they might make the bill more predictable? not sure if it actually lowers what you pay month to month tho..
so just wanted to ask what’s worked best to actually see a lower total? and has upgrading or leasing an HVAC system made a difference?
how to lower electricity bill?
byu/Background-Echo1576 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Background-Echo1576
16 Comments
Not using the HVAC as much and wearing coat, blankets, etc is what will save you that money
Check if your utility company does free energy audits – they’ll come out and tell you exactly where you’re bleeding money. Mine found a ton of air leaks around windows and outlets that I never would’ve noticed
Also look into whether you qualify for any rebates on HVAC upgrades, some states have crazy good incentives right now
You’d need to give a lot more info about the HVAC system in your house. If your heat is electric and you have air con, yeah those are going to be the big drivers — orders of magnitude more consumption than lighting or unplugging.
I can’t imagine a situation where leasing HVAC systems makes sense, but maybe there’s some country/region it does…
Check whether your utility provider has online tooling to help you understand your usage, from both what they see on your bill and a questionnaire about your house.
Even better, some utility providers and/or jurisdictions offer free or cheap home energy audits, where someone actually visits your house to understand your usage and possible improvements (but they’re not trying to sell you on them).
Assuming your hvac system is in good working order and less than 20 years old you certainly won’t save money overall by replacing it early.
A smart thermostat, hosing off the AC unit outside, making sure the filter is changed and not too high a MERV rating, and maybe paying an HVAC company to increase the air return size could all net save money. Plus the obvious sealing up the house better stuff.
What type of heat do you have? If it’s gas forced air already, then a new system isn’t going to make a big difference. Most of the energy is from the gas, not electricity, so savings would be on your gas bill, though the blower motor may be a notable draw. Same thing if you already have a heat pump system, even slightly older ones are still very efficient. But if you have electric baseboard heaters, then yeah, an upgrade is in order without a doubt. And if you have a very old AC unit, then yes, a new one will be more efficient.
It’s the rates, not the consumption .
If you haven’t had your HVAC serviced recently and you don’t regularly change your filters, you might see some savings from getting maintenance. Especially with air-conditioning, a leak of refrigerant can cause the system to use a lot of electricity without providing a lot of cooling. The technician will let you know when they service the unit.
In general, set your thermostat so you’re using less heat and less cooling whenever you can. If your electricity company bills based on time of use, adjust the timer on your thermostat to use less during the most expensive hours. If you’re low income or have someone with a disability in your home, check if there are programs to lower your bills (there might be something on the actual bill or the electricity company’s website).
Air seal and insulate your attic #1. Insulate rim joists and spray foam any penetrations into your subfloor. Encapsulate crawl if you have a vented crawl. Put those little foam covers behind outlets on exterior walls. Pull out your dryer and check that connection, it likes to leak. Feel around for drafts on a cold day and caulk the shit out of shit. if you have an attic access, build an insulated hatch cover around it with thick foam board. This made a HUGE difference for me. Heavy curtains around leaky doors and windows. Check your exterior door weather strippings and replace if needed. Got rebates back from my energy company for the insulation and air sealing. And my power bill dropped significantly. But my house was leaky! Some idiot put a bunch of plywood in my attic for storage and smashed all the insulation…🙄🙄🙄.
Does your utility offer time of day rates? My household switched to a TOD plan and shift a lot of our energy usage to off peak, which has saved us over $100 in the past year.
We have 3 different rates based on time of day. Midnight to 6a & midnight to 2p weekends is the cheapest, so that’s when we do laundry
What do you keep your AC at?
If you own your place, look into solar.
You don’t have to go whole hog straight out of the gate. You can add one or two panels to start and then work your way up from there.
If you own your home and can install solar panels, look into it.
Use ceiling fans for cooling in summer. Make sure your walls and attic have insulation.
Don’t warm the house more than 70. Wear warm clothes. I assume you have a gas furnace . Close the ducts in rooms that you don’t use much. If your doors and windows don’t seal well look into sealant tapes or other methods to prevent cold and heat escaping.
Have you checked your actual electrical usage on your bill? I ask because electricity costs just seem to keep climbing. Check your bill to see if your usage is increasing or is the cost for equal or lower usage rising.
Are you running any space heaters? Heating with electricity is expensive unless it’s a heat pump. Unplugging devices usually doesn’t help that much because devices draw very little when they are off.
Be mindful to turn off lights in vacant rooms. Even with LED bulbs it adds up if you’ve got every room lit up.
Don’t set your high and low temps too close together – it makes the heat or a/c constantly turn on and off.