We all had that moment where you open up the monthly energy bill and are shocked to see just how much it is. That is the reason why basically every father ever has reminded you over and over again as a child to turn off the light when you leave a room. Now that you are a bill paying adult, you are likely much more interested in reducing your energy use if it means that it will save you a few bucks every month.

So to help you out, here are some of the best ways to start reducing how much energy your household uses.

Install Better Lighting

One of the first things you can do is improve your lighting. The good news is that you do not have to be like your father and repeatedly tell everyone to stop turning on so many lights in the house because there are now better ways to keep your lighting under control.

The cheapest thing that you can do, besides actually just turning on lights less, is to switch out your standard light bulbs for new efficient LED ones. Compared to standard incandescent light bulbs, LED ones are capable of using only a quarter of the power while also lasting nearly 10x as long. That means that not only are you saving money from buying new light bulbs less frequently, but you will also save money from the light bulbs you already use because they consume much less energy although left on for the same length of time.

If you wanted to go a step further, you could even replace your light bulbs with smart home bulbs. This will obviously cost a bit more money up front, but can actually let you save more money over the long term. Not only are most smart home light bulbs already LEDs but they can also be set on timers so that they turn on and off exactly when you want them to.

Never again will you have to worry about someone leaving the house and forgetting to turn off a light which ends up needlessly wasting power for hours on end. On top of that, you can also customize their brightness so that they are using less power to provide less light than your typical all-or-nothing light bulbs.

Improve and Reduce Hot Water Use

Lowering the amount of hot water that your household uses can be done in numerous ways. Some of the most popular options are to wash your clothes in cool water and install low-flow showerheads. This can end up saving you a bunch of money that is normally spent heating up extra gallons of hot water.

If you go down to the source of the hot water, there are even more things that you can do to improve your water heating process and thereby reduce your energy usage. For instance, if you were to stick your hand in some water, would be you be able to tell if it was 100 degrees or 105 degrees? Turns out that almost everyone is not able to, so there is no reason why you need your hot water heater to be turned up as high. Turn it down a couple degrees and watch your energy savings start to roll in.

If you wanted to take a more hands-on approach, you could also further insulate your pipes and hot water heater. This will reduce the amount of heat lost during the transfer of the water and therefore will require less time and energy to heat the exact same amount of water to the exact same temperature.

Install Solar Panels

If you want to help the environment while also saving money on your energy bill, then this is the perfect option for you. Solar power in Frederick is becoming increasingly popular due to its many benefits, one of which is that it is able to significantly reduce your energy levels. By installing enough solar panels on your Erie, CO home, you could even completely eliminate your power bill.

For those of you worried about whether or not solar energy would work in and around Firestone or other areas that get a lot of storms, you can simply ask a local solar company in Louisville, CO about what kind of efficiency ratings you can expect to receive. Chances are that your home will get more than enough sunlight in order to provide significant amounts of power to your home.

To get started on the process of installing solar panels, you can simply contact a solar company in Erie, CO and they will be happy to give you a free quote.

Unplug Items You Are Not Using

Something that might be surprising for a lot of you to hear is that all of your electronics and appliances are drawing power when they are plugged in, even if they are not being used. It might be weird to think that something that is not actually doing anything could still be using power, but it is a proven thing referred to as “phantom loads.”

Wasting money to power an appliance that is not being used can be particularly frustrating, but luckily, there are a couple things that you can do. One option is to try and remember to unplug any devices whenever you are not using them.

However, doing this can be a bit of a hassle, especially when you need to unplug multiple things that you selectively use on a daily basis. It could mean plugging in and unplugging multiple times a day. So instead of taking this approach, you could do something similar but in a far more efficient way by plugging multiple devices that you only occasionally use into one power strip. You can then selectively turn on and off the strip without plugging in and unplugging the devices.