You Can Save Mucho $$$ By Being More Aware Of Your Usage With A Monitor

You can monitor your electricity usage in real time using a monitor that attaches to your meter. The monitor than sends a wireless signal to a hand held display that you can put anywhere in your home. You can see exactly how much money you can save by turning off that light or unplugging those appliances that you are not using.

There is another type of monitor that allows you to see how much each appliance you own is costing you. You plug this meter into the wall and then plug your appliance into it. You’ll be surprised by how much some things are costing you.

You can see both type of monitors here.

My second favorite trick is to install timers on certain switches in your home. Personally, I forget to turn off the switch in rooms like the laundry room all of the time. With a timer I can go in there and hit one of two buttons. One of the buttons turns the lights on like a normal switch and the other will turn off the lights automatically after 30 minutes. No more accidentally leaving the light on for hours after I leave the room.

Another good way to install a timer switch is to use one of exhaust fans. If you have a fan in the bathroom you can set the switch to supply power to the fan for ten minutes. After ten minutes of drawing air out of the room the switch will automatically turn off the fan for you.

You can see lots of different styles of timer switches here.

My last trick is to clean out any appliances that capture lint. Surprisingly, you can save well over a hundred dollars here if you use these appliances regularly.

There are three places that are the worst offenders. Dryers, air conditioners, and refrigerators. Keep the dryer lint trap clean as well as the exhaust duct. Clean out the dust from the air conditioners and clean off the regrigerators coil that is usually under the appliance.

Bonus Tip: Did you know that a full refigerator and freezer runs more efficiently than an empty one? Put ice bags in the freezer and full water jugs in the regrigerator to keep them full.