(This tip comes from Sam, who used to work as a billing inquiry specialist for an electric utility company. Part of the job was to help people figure ways to cut down their electric bill.)
The major use of household electricity is usually tied to only a few things. Compared to the use of these major items lights, computers, TVs do not use a whole lot of electricity in and of themselves. The problem is that for most people those major items are things we couldn't live without.
The biggest user of electricity on a daily basis is the refrigerator. Now it has been many years since I held that job and and they are very efficient in the use of electricity now, but they can still make up 80 percent of the daily usage of electricity of some households. There are a couple of things people can do to cut down a small part of the usage.
Refrigerator Tips:
- Make sure the refrigerator is not up against an outside facing wall.
- Keep the fridge as full as possible.
- Clean out beneath and behind the fridge every month or so.
- If your fridge is over 10 years old, consider getting a new one. And if you do get a new one, do not stick the old one in the garage. If you have an old one in the garage get rid of it unless you really need it. Usually all those extra refrigerators do is use up electricity cooling air.
- Submitted by Sam