If you use a coffeemaker, when the coffee is finished brewing immediately pour it into a thermos (which will keep it hot for hours) and unplug the 1200-watt coffeemaker instead of leaving the pot on the heating element until you have drank it all. The minutes add up.
If you're not going to use your range or stove much in the summer, shut it off at the breaker box. If appliances draw 40% of their power while off, 40% of a 220-volt stove is a lot more than what the 13-watt electronics draw. Besides cutting your/family's hair, wash your car yourself using a bucket or two. Don't mow your lawn--let the wildflowers come up for the bees--save on all the lawn expenses. If you live in a cold climate, shut your refrigerator in the winter and use the natural coldness. Use the sun for drying clothes. If you live in the Pacific Northwest where it is too rainy and damp to dry clothes in the winter, consider hanging them in a closet and running a dehumidifier in the closet. It uses much less electricity than an electric clothes dryer. Or hang them inside by your woodburning stove, if you have one. And, my last suggestion for now (I could go on and on) is if you don't need to put a light on every time you walk into a room, keep it off. You should know your home well enough by now to get around it, and rooms usually aren't pitch black. (Last suggestion was inspired by my blind friends who know where everything is in their homes. If they can do it, so can we.)
If you use a coffeemaker, when the coffee is finished brewing immediately pour it into a thermos (which will keep it hot for hours) and unplug the 1200-watt coffeemaker instead of leaving the pot on the heating element until you have drank it all. The minutes add up.
If you're not going to use your range or stove much in the summer, shut it off at the breaker box. If appliances draw 40% of their power while off, 40% of a 220-volt stove is a lot more than what the 13-watt electronics draw. Besides cutting your/family's hair, wash your car yourself using a bucket or two. Don't mow your lawn--let the wildflowers come up for the bees--save on all the lawn expenses. If you live in a cold climate, shut your refrigerator in the winter and use the natural coldness. Use the sun for drying clothes. If you live in the Pacific Northwest where it is too rainy and damp to dry clothes in the winter, consider hanging them in a closet and running a dehumidifier in the closet. It uses much less electricity than an electric clothes dryer. Or hang them inside by your woodburning stove, if you have one. And, my last suggestion for now (I could go on and on) is if you don't need to put a light on every time you walk into a room, keep it off. You should know your home well enough by now to get around it, and rooms usually aren't pitch black. (Last suggestion was inspired by my blind friends who know where everything is in their homes. If they can do it, so can we.)