This post brought to you by IGS Energy. The content and opinions expressed below are that of this mama loves.
When you have a family as big as we do, you learn to live on a tight budget. Sometimes you pinch pennies and scrape to make ends meet because you have no other choice and sometimes you keep that tight budget simply because it’s the smart thing to do. Over the years we’ve learned that where there is a will, there is a way to save money on just about everything in and around your household – your grocery bill, your baby needs like diapers, your holiday gift list, vacations, and so much more, even your energy bill!
6 Tips to Save on Energy Bill this Spring and Summer
Fire Up the Grill The weather is warming up, the sun is shining, and the days are longer. Take advantage of the opportunity to cook outside. Leaving the oven off inside will keep your home cooler and make the urge to turn the air conditioning on less likely.
Take Advantage of the Daylight Turn off lamps and ceiling lights and keep the curtains and blinds open during the day when the natural light shines in. Remind children (and forgetful adults) to switch off the lights this time of year to help save energy.
Open the Windows and Turn on Ceiling Fans Resist the urge to turn the air conditioning on and open the windows. The fresh air feels great and it’s free! Let the cool air in through the windows and turn on ceiling fans to help circulate the air.
Change the Light Bulbs Switch to energy efficient light bulbs like LED or CFL bulbs that use less energy. This is a quick and easy change that can be made gradually throughout your home.
Dust Clean dust from your electronics like televisions, computers, and keyboards as well as from your electrical outlets to help everything run more efficiently. Be sure to unplug electronics before cleaning and to turn off power to outlets before cleaning.
Shop Your Energy Supplier Energy Choice is a program that is approved in certain states where customers are able to purchase electricity and natural gas from an independent energy supplier. These states are considered “deregulated states”.
It used to be that electric and natural gas consumers did not have a choice about who supplied their energy and they were served by their local utility within a territory. Today things are different. With energy choice and deregulation programs, customers are able to shop electricity and natural gas like they do other products and they are able to choose a supplier that best suits their needs. The supplier they choose may be the utility or one of many suppliers licensed to market in the consumer’s area.
In a deregulated market, you’re able to purchase your energy from an independent supplier like IGS Energy instead of remaining with a utility whose rate often fluctuates with market conditions (meaning their rates are variable and move up and down at various times of the year). Serving over one million customers, IGS Energy is one of the largest independent suppliers of natural gas and electric supply products in the country. They also offer a wide range of home protection products to help customers protect their budgets against costly repairs of the utility lines that keep their home running smoothly, that most people don’t know are their own responsibility.
With a company like IGS Energy, you can lock in rates at today’s low rates for the longer term and have the peace of mind that if rates go up, yours will remain the same.
You can enroll with IGS Energy directly on IGSenergy.com, through local home energy consultants in person, by mail, and over the phone with highly trained and personable customer service representatives. All associates are trained to be Trusted Energy Advisors, not just to sell the next product. IGS offers natural gas, electricity and home protection products in 10 states. Energy choice details can be found here.
IGS Energy works with your local utility as part of the utility’s customer choice program. They are not in direct competition. They purchase the natural gas or electricity and the utility company delivers it!
Do you have energy choice? Will you take advantage of IGS Companies community support to spend smart on utilities? Share how you save on energy bills below!
Peachy @ The Peach Kitchen says
Our electric bill is through the roof these days and I need all the energy saving tip I can get. Thanks for sharing yours.
Aubrey says
Great tips here. I love the idea of shopping my energy provider, but I’m fairly certain we’re not in a de-regulated state. I guess I ought to find out for sure.
Melissa Vera says
Thanks for sharing these tips. I can’t wait to try some of these out at my house.
Stephanie Pass says
We do a lot of these things. But, I had no idea that dusting would improve efficiency. That is good to know.
coolchillmom says
I would love to open windows but humidity will kill us lol. I will definitively change the bulbs for energy efifcient ones
CourtneyLynne says
Wow these are some really great tips!!!! Anything to help save money on energy!!! Love saving money!
Heather lawrence says
These are great tips!
Durning the day we have the windows drawn so we can keep the heat out and then we have the windows open during the night to get the fresh clean air. We have also time shift the heat so it’s not so hot when we asleep.
Karissa says
I try to be cognoscente of the energy I waste. I am all about saving money and the world! The natural light is one I am very good at!
Wendy says
Thanks for the great tips. I’ve done good at keeping mine really low but any extra helps!
dawn says
these are some cool tips. i live in and we always have the air going so any way to save on energy is a plus.
Claudia Krusch says
Love your tips, it’s important to save as much as we can! I can’t wait to use some of them!
Heather says
I wish we had energy choice, I’d love to be able to choose the best possible energy options, but it’s one source for our whole city. I have thought about solar panels though.
Eloise says
I love saving money in anyway possible, so these tips will help out, great reminders!
Heather says
While I don’t live in your area, these are still useful. When I moved to the south I had a heart attack when I saw our first electricity bill. Coming from San Diego where I was upset over an $80 electricity bill (that was high there), it’s been sticker shock here. Thanks for the tips.
Bonnie @wemake7 says
These are great ways to save on energy costs. We are a large family too and do most of these but I never knew about the dusting appliances one.
Jaclyn Anne says
I would LOVE to save some money on our energy bill. Thank you for the tip, I had actually never heard of IGS before.
Up Run For Life says
I need to dust my appliances. I typically don’t open my windows because of horrible spring allergies and during the summer it’s just way too hot. We have switched to a cheaper provider.
Jeanine says
This is great! I’m surprised how great our energy bill has been since we moved. I will try and see if I can really make a bigger difference here!
Jasmine Eclipse says
These are great tips! I made it through the winter by (unfortunately) paying very high electric bills because of my heater, but I’m from Hawaii and this was my first real winter! I’m looking forward to the summer time and lower bills!
angie Scheie says
I am so glad that I read this post for the dust comment alone! I didn’t realize that it could have an effect. I also thought for some reason that in Seattle we were stuck with one utility company. HmmmI’ll have to look into that.