Electric bills are often the most expensive bill of the month.  During the summer months, they can be downright frightening.  Looking at alternative power sources like solar energy is a great long term solution that all Orlando Florida homeowners should implement.  However, for immediate relief here are some great free energy saving tips you can take advantage of.  If you employ all six of these energy saving tips you will be able to lower your power bill by 20% in as little as one month.  Making your home more energy efficient will lower power bills, reduce the strain on appliances and reduce your energy consumption,  This is a great first step towards using solar energy to power your home.  By reducing your overall consumption you will be able to install a smaller solar panel system and increase your overall savings.

Refrigerator Settings

Your refrigerator’s Settings should be between 38-40.  Higher temperatures may lead to bacteria growth and lower temperatures is just wasting energy.  Your freezer temperature should be 5 degrees to keep your food properly frozen.  Don’t set your refrigerator to low.  It is your homes most energy used appearance and can represent up to 10% of your electric bill.

Hot Water Heater

Hot water heaters represent 12- 15% of your electric bill.  So here are a couple of tips to reduce this cost.  First set your hot water to 120 degrees this is the temperature the department of energy suggests to get hot water and keep your costs as minimal as possible.  You may also benefit from a hot water heater sleeve.  Your hot water tank turns on every 2 hours to reheat the water by utilizing a hot water sleeve you can reduce that to every 6-8 hours and reap the rewards in energy savings.

Outlet Covers

In almost all homes, small amounts of outside air constantly leak in through your electrical outlets.  Since you probably have dozens of these this leakage can add up.  Simply upgrading to insulated outlet covers will solve this problem

Weather Stripping & Window Caulking

Another easy and simple way to reduce air leakage into your house is to make sure your weather stripping and window caulking are updated.

Smart Thermostat

Upgrade to a smart thermostat can save you up to 10% on your A/C & Heating consumption.  Auto schedule remembers the temperatures you set and programs a personalized schedule for your home.  So it allow homeowners to have a properly programmed thermostat without actually having to program it

LED Lighting

The US Department of energy says that LED’s are a highly efficient lighting technology that uses 85% less energy, and lasts 25 times longer than incandescent.  It is also using 60% less energy than fluorescent lighting and last 5-10 times longer and the filaments in the fluorescent bulbs are toxic when they break and they do.

In conclusion, these six energy saving tips can save you 20% off of your power bill in as little as 1 month.  After you have made your home more energy efficient and reduced your overall energy consumption you might also like to look at alternative energy sources like solar power to reduce your power bill to pennies.