Frugal Solutions To Manage Your Residential Electric Bill

Everyone needs electricity, but everyone doesn’t need to go broke trying to pay his or her bill. If you’ve recently put yourself a budget, you’ll want to pay special attention to your electricity bill since it’s one of the many recurring bills that you have to pay. You’ll be glad to know that there is a flexible range of solutions that will help you manage your residential electric bill on a budget.

Paint Your Roof

If you don’t have a fear of heights, you can paint the roof of your house white as a way to save energy. Studies have shown that during sunny climates buildings that have a white roof used up to 40% less energy than buildings that have black rooftops. You could potentially save as much as $120 a year on your air conditioning bill with a white roof.

You’ll be able to find elastomeric coating at a hardware store. Elastomeric coating is a mix of polymers that are water-resistant, flexible and durable as well. The way this coating works is that it helps lengthen the life of your roof and makes it more resistant to water. The only thing you’ll need to spread the elastomeric coating is a heavy duty paint roller and an extension pole if you don’t want to strain your back any more than necessary.

Use an Irrigation Meter

Whether you realize it or not, you’re actually paying double for all of the water that you use in your home each month, once for it to be pumped into your home and again for it to be siphoned out of your home as sewage. We all think that every gallon of water that comes out of a faucet goes right back down the drain when in actuality that water never makes it into the sewer system if you ever use water to irrigate your home garden or lawn. To save yourself some money, ask your utility company if you can get a separate meter to take note of all of the water you use in your swimming pool and irrigation. When the irrigation meter is installed, your utility company will take a monthly reading and subtract it from your sewage bill. Bear in mind that you’ll have to pay as much as several hundred dollars to have the meter installed on your property, but you’ll no longer have to pay for sewage capacity that you aren’t really using.  You can rest easy knowing that the irrigation will pay for itself in a few years.  

Sweep Your House Before You Go To Bed

Before you turn in for the night, walk through your house to make sure all of your lights and appliances are off. You should also unplug anything that you aren’t using since coffeemakers, fans, TV sets and game consoles can continue leeching electricity even when you aren’t using them. This might seem like a pain to do every night, but it costs $21 a year to power a conventional light bulb, $9 for a compact fluorescent light bulb and $35 to power a large ceiling fan. That might not seem like a lot if you happen to leave a light on overnight, but it’s still money that you don’t have to spend.

Your residential electric bill is only as high as you make it. Look into switching to more energy efficient appliances and light bulbs. While they’ll cost you more initially, they’ll last longer and will pay for themselves over time.