I turn everything (except the fridge 🙂 ) off at the power point overnight. I also have a rule with the kids that if they turn something on (eg computer) they must turn something else off (eg TV/cd player/raido) and the same with lights, if they turn a light on they must turn another off (where possible) as I used to find the computer, tv, radio and a dozen lights on often!

I also saw on a current affair show recently that some companies are offering free power on Saturdays (with slightly higher rates other days) and many are using this as washing day and taking advantage of it, as more family members are home on weekends. Might be worth checking with your provider.

Our provider offers a small ($5) discount if you pay by direct debit in advance (and they are also more than happy to help if you need extra time as the bill is part paid)

All good tips, I also,turn off the hot water in summer. I then only need hot water for washing dishes in the sink. I always wash clothes in cold water and where I live in the hot tropics, cold water showers are wonderful! Ceiling fans and open windows are generally enough to keep home cool Air Conditioners only go on for a few hours in the hottest part of the day and before bed, to cool rooms and then off. Again open windows and fans are enough to remain comfortable.

Ritareet; I love your comment ‘if the sun is up, the lights are off!’ Good point! 🙂

We have taught our kids that ‘if the sun is up, the lights are off!’ They are to open a blin instead of turning on lights. They’ll learn very quickly if they have to do lines or a chore to make up for it!

We installed Solar on our roof, we have seen a dramatic decrease in our bills – to the point where we are in credit this quarter! We also ensure that we turn off all unnecessary equipment, like computers, after using them. That alone has made a great difference. Less heat and back ground noise to contend with. I hope this helps!

In hot weather put blinds down if applicable, close vertical or venetian blinds, curtains etc.Curtains. it is best to buy blockout ones as they blockout more light. Do this in all rooms you aren’t using. Rooms you don’t use at all, keep the doors shut. If possible use a split-system ducted airconditioner. You can choose to cool or heat just some of the rooms that way. Don’t use oil filled coil heaters. 1. they are expensive to run 2. if you are unfortunate enough to have a house fire and it is involved at all the insurance will not cover any of the damage. Gas heating isn’t as cheap as you think it as you have to have a built-in fan to keep the flu etc. cool otherwise it will catch fire. Some washing machines are waterwise but are not very economical power wise. If you have good undercover space outside you may be able to put up a small clothes line or a strong clothes airer that you can hang small items on and either get them airing dry or completely diry and minimise the use of your clothes dryer. If you live in a windy area you will need an airer that has rails at the bottom to give it stability (not just the legs that sit on the ground). Initially they are expensive to buy but you will save electricity. If it blows over put something heavy on the bottom rungs to hold it on whater you have got it standing on. There are a couple of different sizes and it is surprising how much you can get on them. The ones that only have legs are cheaper and easier to move but are not always practical. It is your choice what works for you. My Mum always used them to hang underwear, nappies, baby clothes and some adult clothes as well. It is awkward but you can put tops on hangers and put them on the top rung of the airer depending how high it is and how long your tops are.
You can put them out in the sun or shade depending on the weather. If it sunny then starts raining, you can grab and move it undercover (or inside if they are airing dry), where otherwise you would only manage to grab a few items if the rain wets them too much before you can get them off the time.

We looked into solar, but at this stage it isn’t worth it. The outlay for the cost of the panels was too high compared to what the government is currently giving you as a rebate. If you still however want to look into it make sure you find out how much the government with reimburse you for the panels and also the amount you will get back from them from the energy you’ll be making if any on top of your bill. some companies also just give you credit for any extra power others give you cash back or you can put towards your gas bill. the government are currently paying for your house to be fitted with halogen light globes with are cheaper to run so look into that. good luck 🙂

Thanks Mom’s for sharing your good tips; I will put them to good use in trying to save electricity and have lower bills. I like the idea of solar and am interested in looking into it. 🙂

Besides the obvious turning off computers and lights when not in use, we also try to cohabitate as much as possible. We use main family room for the computers, many toys, and everyone is encouraged to spend their downtime in this space instead of scattering to other living rooms or bedrooms. This way we only maintain one room for cooling in Summer and keep lighting needs down. We also refuse to leave and use items on charge. When a battery runs out completely, it is placed on charge and the minute it is full the charge is switched off. This applies to electric toothbrushes, laptops and tablets, phones, among other things.

switch off the lights when not using,

Thinking about the electricity bills, we installed solar panels and solar hot water system when we bought our first home. I can really see that it helps! A great investment.

One small thing I do is make a big pot of tea and keep a tea cosy over the top of it so I don’t have to keep boiling the kettle. It stays hot for hours.

Our bills keep rising too. I’ve turned into a bit of a lights-nazi and hate lights left on in empty rooms.

Have all appliances checked – is fridge working and sealed properly? Only have 1 fridge. Use washing machine and or dryer in off peak times only (if you can preset it turn it on in the early hours of the morning. Replace lights with LED ones, this was an initial outlay but they never need replacing and cut light costs by up to 30%. Look into solar panels also

Make sure your fridge seal is good, my old fridge (technically not old at 5 yrs but replaced whole fridge for much bigger model) had a dodgy seal which I had been unaware of, when I replaced my fridge for a bigger, supposedly less economical fridge my electricity bill dropped by over 100 a quarter!

i know how you feel! bills get more expensive but our actual usage has been decreasing over the past year. you can get a real time meter that will show you the usage and that will remind you to turn things off lol. i think that they are $50 dollars but sometimes you will see them for free as an incentive to go to another power company. Big tv’s take a lot of power. Gaming consoles as well. Obviously aIr-con. Last billing period, i went super crazy on this issue and made sure that EVERYTHING was unplugged when not in use. So much power gets wasted by stand-by modes. I also had a few days where i read a book for a few hours, went to bed earlier, kept more lights off and made the kids play outside more. Our bill ended up being $100 cheaper! that was so impressive! this bill will be so expensive because of christmas, people visiting, constant fans on and running an air-con. But it will only really be this billing period and things will get cooler and won’t need all that extra stuff on.