Does it feel like your electricity bill couldn’t get any higher? Looking for ways to lower your costs?
The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and FirstEnergy offer tips and strategies to help you lower your electricity usage.
These include:
- Cutting off “vampire power,” small amounts of electricity that are conducted through wires even when devices are powered off, is one place you can save as much as $100 a year by unplugging devices in your home.
- Finding ways to more efficiently light, heat and cool your home.
- Saving on power usage of major appliances.
- Lowering holiday utility bills, which may go up because of increased heating costs, appliance use and extra lighting around your home.
- Signing up for FirstEnergy’s TVR program if you’re eligible. It can save you money depending on when you use electricity, since it costs less during lower demand periods.
Here are some more detailed looks at a variety of ways, long- and short-term, that you can cut your electricity costs.
How can I save on vampire power (also called phantom load)?
Targeting your coffee makers, televisions, computers and cell phones and unplugging them when you aren’t using them can help you avoid using and paying for what’s known as vampire power energy. This standby power is also sometimes referred to as a phantom load…