Energy Prescriptions for a Healthier Budget

In this day and age of $4 dollar a gallon gas and increasing food prices there is a way to lower your household expenses. You can drastically cut your electric bill by following some simple procedures. There are literally hundreds of ways to lower your electric bill; but, for the sake of this article we will only describe two.

Your heating/air conditioning system uses the most electricity in your house. If you set your thermostat at 78 or 79 degrees in the summer you will save thirty to seventy dollars per month depending on the size of your house. Over a five month period that works out to 150 to 450 dollars.

There are some people who may not be comfortable at those temperatures. If you do this for a week or two weeks you will find your body will rapidly acclimate to this change. You can also use your ceiling fans or other fans to help circulate air and make rooms cooler.

Using compact flourescent light bulbs or cfl's will also reduce your electric bill. They are slightly more expensive to purchase; but they will save you money in the long run. They use one-fourth the electricity of a regular bulb and they last eight or nine years.

By using these two procedures and others we have managed to cut our electic bill in half. The money we are able to save is a big help in paying our increased gas and food costs.

Marvin Woll,
NC Sierra Club Volunteer