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Most people feel they are spending too much for electricity but few know what to do to lower their monthly bill.  Cutting back on your home energy and water use is not very difficult and has very few downsides.

Typical U.S. home electricity usageThis chart displays electricity usage for the average American all-electric home as derived by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  This is what your electric bill money buys every month.

As can be expected the average home uses a great deal of electricity on heating and cooling.  How often you use your heater or air conditioner will vary based on where you live, but the overall heating/cooling percentage will remain roughly the same.

Since 2000 the proliferation of consumer electronics has brought about an increase in the amount of electricity being used by electronics from 4% to 7% of total usage.  During the same period lighting and appliance energy use have remained pretty much the same.

The surprise cost for most homeowners is the amount of electricity used to heat water.  Water heaters normally consume 17-21% of the typical home's energy supply.  They provide hot water whenever you need it but you are paying a premium for that convenience.

So how do you lower your bill?  You use less electricity.  How do you use less electricity?  You stop looking for the one energy saving thing, the silver bullet, that will lower your bill.  Your bill pays for many different uses of electricity and to reduce it you need to make changes in every area.  In other words you don't need a silver bullet as much as you need a lot of lead bullets. 

The good news is that you can save a lot of energy for little or no cost, and without disrupting your lifestyle.  The links below will take you to tips on how to save electricity. They tips get progressively more aggressive, and some cost money, but you can start today with the free ones and work your way up from there.  Just follow the links below or just click the Next button below.

Zero cost things you can do today to save energy.

Low cost ways to save energy.

Advanced ways to save energy.

How to save money on water.

Other ways to save money around the house.