If it comes to the end of the month and you are shocked by the size of your household gas and electricity bills, there are plenty of reasons why they could have spiked to such a high level. Identifying the cause of the increase is essential. Otherwise, you are going to keep paying over the odds for no reason. In this article, we will present a few of the factors that could have caused your bills to soar.
Losing Heat
If you feel like you are having to blast heat out through the home in order to warm up, there are plenty of factors that could be causing a problem. Right at the top of the list is your windows. If they are not double-glazed, you are going to be letting a lot of heat out. Close behind this, we have the insulation. If it is time to get this job done, you can take a look at Orange County insulation installation. Then, there are plenty of smaller issues such as cracks and gaps around the home. Alternatively, it could simply be because you are never closing your curtains!
Tackle Vampire Appliances
While your appliances use energy when they are in use, you don’t want them to bleed your bills dry as well. Instead of keeping them plugged in all the time, you should make sure that they are powered off. Often, common appliances will simply go into standby mode, which means that they are still using electricity. As a potential solution, you could hook up your appliances to powers strips. When they are not in use, all you have to do is to flick the strips off.
Reduce Usage of Bigger Items
Often, it is the bigger appliances around your home that are draining a huge amount of energy. Think of your dishwashers and your tumble dryers. So, if you are going to use either one, it is worth only putting them on when they are full. You can also reduce the heat setting as well. When you just need to wash a couple of plates or items of cutlery, there is nothing wrong with doing this the old-fashioned way. So, roll up your sleeves and get stuck in!
Stop Using Old Appliances
While it may seem like you are saving money by never replacing your old appliances, this can actually end up having the opposite effect to the one that you were intending. This is simply because they use more energy than their newer counterparts. When it does come the time to upgrade your old appliances, it is worth checking out their energy-efficiency rating. This way, you are going in with your eyes open and you know that they will be contributing to lowering your overall bills.
These are some of the reasons why your household bills may have gotten out of control, as well as a few suggestions for what to do about it. Now you’re armed with the knowledge to take control of the situation.
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