As you are looking around your home for ways to save money on electricity, it is only natural to linger on the big things like your heating and air conditioning systems. However, there is also a lot to be saved in other areas if you know where to look and how to go about cutting back. Both the type of appliances that you buy and the way that you use them will directly impact your total electric bill every month, so it is certainly worth paying attention to what you are doing and what you could do better.
For one thing, it is almost always worth it to go with an Energy Star certified appliance whenever possible. It does not matter if it is a coffee maker or a washing machine. Every little bit helps and so you will be setting yourself up for much lower electric bill over time when you figure total energy usage into all of your purchases.
Using power strips is also a great way to make saving on electricity easy. No matter what you do, many appliances will draw a small amount of power even when they are switched off. So as long as things like your laptop, TV and toaster are plugged in, they are draining energy whether you are using them or not.
Of course, you could just go around and unplug everything you are not using, but that can get pretty tedious. Plugging these types of appliances and home electronics into a power strip makes it easy to just cut their power supply completely when you do not need them. And switching them back on again is just as easy. You do not even have to go crawling around on the floor looking for the plug.
There are certainly many items that you cannot or do not want to unplug or completely cut the power to at any time. For appliances and electronics that fall into that category, simply make sure you turn them off completely when they are not in use. Many home electronics will automatically switch to a standby mode rather than shutting down completely and it is easy to forget they are still on. However, you will save a lot if you make sure to shut them down completely when they are not in use.
