Consumer Tip of the Week: Savings on Your Utility Bill
Submitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate Agent
Huntsville Real Estate Blog
As many of you know, in the midst of drought and all that is going on in our area, Huntsville Utilities has been encouraging local residents to try to be conservative in our water and utility usage. I have been encouraging you to try to save energy and I decided to see what I could do to be more conservative in my daily routine.
Lately, I have been doing a little experiment with my utilitity usage. I would like to share the results with you!!! I have been making little changes and in the course of one month I cut my utility usage and ultimately my utility bill IN HALF with just four easy steps.
So here are the easy simple things that I did to save on my utility bill.
- I set my thermostat on 78 degrees and left it set on auto. I made myself promise not to touch it!!
- Turn off any lights I'm not using especially in bathroom, closet, etc. I also stopped leaving my outside lights on all day.
- I unplugged my appliances in the kitchen (except for the stove and refrigerator) and only plugged them in when I needed to use them.
- I put all my major electronics on surge protectors and I turn the surge protector off when they are not in use. (After a couple of days I got used to the blinking time on the DVD/VCR player.)
The third one was the hardest for me to remember. But I just got used to hitting the button on the surge protector after I finished. Pretty much other than my major appliances, the only thing that I leave plugged in are my computer and my clocks. THAT'S IT!! I wish I could take credit for the idea but I actually got it from Oprah. Until I saw that Oprah show, I really did not realize that electronics continue to draw on your utilities as long as they are plugged in even when they are not on. But these three things are all that I did and when I log onto Huntsville Utilties website and view my usage it is almost half of my usage from last month. Consequently, my utility bill is half the amount it was last month.
I found all of this very interesting. If you would like more information on the Huntsville Utilities including rates and news, please feel free to utilize the following resources: 
- My Huntsville Utilities
- Huntsville Utilities Customer Service
- Huntsville Utilities News & Info
- Huntsville Utilities Rates
I will continue to try different things and let you know the results. My next goal is to try the flourescent light bulbs that seem to be growing in popularity now.
I hope this was helpful to you,
Kimberly Grant
Realtor, Exit Leon Crawford Realty
Search Huntsville Homes for Sale
Kimberly,
Tell me, you did this all on your own? That's absolutely amazing, thank you I'm going to give it a try myself. I'd love to link this post, I'll email you directly.
Thanks so much for sharing!
That is wonderful, Kimberly... good for you! Personally, I have my porch light set on a timer (according to sunset/sunrise, which means you have to change the settings about every couple of months). I'm pretty good about turning lights off that I'm not using. The only appliances that are always plugged in in my kitchen are the fridge, stove & microwave (the m/w plug is too hard to reach). We can't put the TV/VCRs on surge protectors because we tape stuff almost every night (to skip the commercials) so the timer has to be right. Unfortunately, living in Florida means the A/C runs on & off throughout the day and I've tried, but the best I can do without feeling too uncomfortable is 76... unless my husband is home, then it's got to be no higher than 75 (he'd have it at 74 if it were up to him).
You've inspired me, though, to run through our usage again to see if there is something, anything, that can help reduce our utility bills. Thanks, Kimberly!