9 tricks to lower the electricity bill without changing companies

No one is unaware that domestic energy is becoming more and more expensive and, what is worse, it has no signs of becoming cheaper in the near future. With the last government, the electricity bill has skyrocketed and for many families the cost of electricity and/or gas has become too large a part of their monthly budget.

The situation has become so worrying that social agents have recovered the concept of energy poverty: those households that cannot afford a minimum supply to make their space habitable.

But without going to these extremes, most of us have within our reach a series of gestures, tricks and strategies that, if we observe them with rationality and discipline, can alleviate the monthly or bimonthly amount of the electricity bill and the gas.

Some of them may seem very obvious, but for this reason they are not less taken into account, and on the other hand, doing so will mean up to 40% savings on total consumption. Of course, taxes are another story, but it is always better to subtract than add.

Check the contracted power

In good times, when the crisis had not affected the majority of families and the bill was 'payable', many households used to look little at the fixed power contracted with the service. The general thought was that "better than missing", in order to prevent peaks in the use of household appliances in which the leads could jump. Today a badly contracted power, that is to say, in excess for the intensity of use that we have, can double the amount of the bill, since each section is significantly taxed.

It's not a bad idea to review the power and assess if what we have is needed or if we can go down to the lower section. In the case of fearing a blackout at a peak of consumption -for example, having the washing machine, dishwasher, dryer and plates running-, we can schedule the operation of the machines, so that we do not use them all at the same time. So we can work smoothly with less power.

Check if our supplier has a cheaper rate

It is possible that if we consult it, the company that provides us with the supply has a list of rates with which it tries to adapt to the different consumers and at the same time distribute consumption throughout the day in order to avoid concentration at rush hour . We may or may not be interested in taking advantage of one of these rates, which usually charge less for night consumption or off-peak hours. If we can adapt to it, it is worth hiring it, but taking into account that non-compliance with it is punishable by extra costs.

Rationalize the use of household appliances

Each appliance has its idiosyncrasies, but in general terms it is estimated that misuse can lead to between 15% and 40% extra cost in terms of monthly consumption.

In the case of refrigerators, it is recommended to avoid keeping them open for too long, not to put finished cooked dishes inside -and therefore hot-, set them below 4 or 5 degrees and -16 in the freezer and let it cool down. form layers of ice, in the case of freezers with a certain age.
In washing machines, the law of maximum filling applies; that is to say, do not put them at a quarter or half load and wait until you have a lot of clothes. Also use cold programs, since more than 40% of the energy of this appliance is invested in heating the water.

Regarding the dryer, it is also recommended to use it well filled and also avoid extra dry programs. Eventually if you can hang clothes and thus avoid their use, much better. On the other hand, it is recommended to use the dishwasher, since it rationalizes the cost of water and saves money compared to washing by hand with hot water. If dishes are usually washed by hand with cold water, then it is a good alternative to skip the dishwasher from the point of view of hot water consumption.

Regarding the kitchen, if it is electric, the most economical with a difference of 40% are the induction hobs, at least with respect to the ceramic hob.

And the same thing happens with ovens, which are consumer appliances: 70% better if we opt for a microwave if we can choose. If you prefer or need the classic oven, it is advisable to take advantage of its use to cook several dishes at the same time. It is also advisable to open it as little as possible to see the state of the stews -for that it has a light- since each opening represents a 20% loss of temperature and efficiency.

Get used to certain amounts of cold in winter

It is not a question here of recommending expired yogurts, as a certain minister did with both good sense and bad communication, but it is true that our body is very plastic and its tolerance to cold and heat increases or decreases depending on how we get used to it. There are people who believe that in winter you should not be inside

house at less than 24 degrees and in summer at more than 22, when the truth is that the ideal temperatures are 21-22 degrees in winter and 25-26 in summer.

Our body is perfectly capable of tolerating them, and we can help ourselves to this with sweaters and socks or slippers at home if we feel cold. At night it is better to lower the heating to a minimum, not only for energy reasons but also because the heat dries out our mucous membranes and dehydrates us. During the day we can leave it at a base temperature when we are outside to avoid excessive cooling in the house.

Another measure is to avoid prolonged morning ventilation, even if it seems to us that the house smells “of tiger” or “of cooking”, since these odors will disappear throughout the day. And if not, we can light some candles or use a soft incense, which is always effective. A long ventilation can make the house too cold. Finally, if we are willing, we can study which heating system suits us best.

Air conditioning in summer, minimum at 26 degrees

Many people find it hard to believe that air at 26 degrees can remove the sensation of heat, but it is so. It is possible that this idea comes from offices with poorly sized and distributed refrigeration equipment, since in these cases the air is set low on purpose so that it reaches all corners, to the serious detriment of those who work near it. But a house is not an office and the air must reach all corners well.

On the other hand, it is advisable to bet on inverter systems, with savings of up to 30% compared to previous ranges. We also have to think that many times, especially on the coast, the humidity is worse than the heat itself, so if there is a program that simply dries the air and ventilates the house without cooling it, it is better to opt for it.

Beware of energy vampires

Energy vampires are household energy sinks that we are unaware of but which raise our electricity bills significantly. The most famous of the vampires is the 'stand by' of many devices turned off, for subsequent ignition from a remote control. It is estimated that devices on 'stand by' can consume up to 15% of the monthly energy. A good way to neutralize this effect is to collect all the sockets in a socket with a switch, which can be turned off at night and turned back on the next morning.

Another vampire are the taps with a temperature modulator, because if we are not careful we tend to leave the modulator in the middle, so every time we open the tap we waste hot water foolishly. We must always make sure that we have it on the cold water side.

A third energy vampire are thermostats, because many times we forget to lower it when we leave the house, or for example when we ventilate, with which they detect the cold air from the street and go off. We must pay attention to them and calculate the correlation between the temperature we want to have in the house and the position of the thermostat.

Finally, a fourth vampire is the classic "VIP client of the electric company on duty": that husband, brother or roommate who leaves lights on wherever he goes.

Secure window and door locks

In terms of heating and cooling, and in old houses, this aspect is very important because they are true sinks of heat energy. We must check all the doors and windows and put compression tape where we see that there are leaks and bad closures. Our pocket will thank you.

Always paint in light colors, especially white

Light colors better catch the light and bounce it, so we will need less power to illuminate the rooms. In addition, they bounce sunlight creating a 'greenhouse effect' inside our home.

Progressively replace burnt-out bulbs with LEDs

It is not a question of suddenly changing all the lighting in the house to LED bulbs because they are still very expensive and it is estimated that it would take us ten years to compensate the equivalent expense with energy savings. But it is an excellent idea to take advantage of replacing a burnt-out light to place an LED bulb, whose consumption is significantly lower and its light output is much higher.

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