10 ways to save money on electricity

1. Unplug anything that glows: There are a lot of electrical items around most homes that have small LCD lights that continue to glow even once the item has been turned off. Believe it or not, those little lights to use up energy, which adds to your electric bill. Sure, it's not going to be much of a savings, but it all adds up. Common items that have those little lights are DVD players, television, cell phone chargers, battery chargers, printers, flatbed scanners and more.
2. Audit your energy usage: The nonprofit group Residential Energy Services network can help you find a professional auditor, but that can get expensive. Contact your local electric company and they might be able to send out an auditor for free or for really cheap. An auditor generally will come out to your home for several hours during one day and will do a study on the electrical usage of your home or property. Then the auditor can offer suggestions on how you can curb your electrical use, and you too can look over the audit to see where you can cut back.
3. Only wash full loads of dishes and clothes: When you run your dish washer or washing machine, they use up a good amount of electricity, as well as water. So don't run those machines until they are jammed full. If your dish washer is only half full, don't use it yet. The same goes for your washing machine and clothes dryer. If these machines aren't full, then you're wasting electricity and money.
4. Take shorter showers: Huh? How does this save on the electric bill? Simple. Shorter showers mean you are using less hot water, and hot water is heated by a water heater. Get it? Water heaters use electricity.
5. Close air vents: If you have rooms in your home that are not used, perhaps a spare bedroom or room over the garage, shut the air conditioning and heating vents to those rooms. This will cut down on your air conditioning usage and thus save you money on electricity.
6. Turn down your air conditioner or heater: For comfort reasons, this is best done when no one is at home for lengthy periods, such as when everyone in the home is gone to work or school. This helps to save in another way, too. During the summer it's hottest during the day, which causes air conditioners to work all that much harder.
7. Use that toaster oven: If you have a toaster oven in your kitchen, make sure to use it for small meals. Obviously a toaster oven isn't appropriate for large meals, but it does use less energy than a regular oven and is perfect for warming up sandwiches, prepares small foods, etc.
8. Don't put hot food in the fridge: This might seem silly, but keep in mind it's the little things that add up to bigger savings. When you place hot foods in the refrigerator, it causes the refrigerator to work harder at remaining cool inside, which means more electrical usage. Allow hot foods to cool down to room temperature before putting them away in the fridge.
9. Buy a self-cleaning oven: But hopefully you've already got one. How does a self-cleaning oven save on the electric bill? Self-cleaning ovens have more insulation than regular ovens, which means they put out less heat into the house. Less heat in the house means the air conditioning isn't working as hard. Which means you're saving a little money.
10. Use ceiling fans: Yes, ceiling fans are run on electricity, but they generally use less electric than an air conditioning unit. You don't necessarily have to shut off your air conditioner, but you can turn it down a little and use it in conjunction with the ceiling fans.