10 Unobvious Ways to Save on Your Energy Bill

After moving in to our new house I was a little bit shocked when opening our electric bill. We are living in a space that is nearly three times the size of our old house (if you include the finished basement) so I guess that really shouldn't be such a shock but I needed to figure out ways to save on our energy.

Direct Energy has been working harder and thinking smarter to provide tools and technology consumers can use to understand their energy usage and #LiveBrighter. Direct Energy is the only energy provider to be a part of Plenti! Plenti lets you earn points at one place and use them at another, all within a single rewards program so that keeping track of your rewards is simple.

New customers will be able to earn 1,000 Plenti points at enrollment when they sign up for Plenti at www.Plenti.com and link their Plenti card number to their Direct Energy account; Existing Direct Energy customers will also earn 1,000 Plenti points when they sign up for Plenti at www.Plenti.com and link their Plenti card number to their Direct Energy account.

PLUS you will receive a $75 pre-paid gift card when you sign up with Direct Energy. Use promo code LIVEBRIGHTER75 – valid until August 15th!

Visit www.directenergy.com/plenti for more information on Direct Energy’s Plenti points program.

There are the most obvious things to consider when trying to conserve on energy....leaving your lights on, leaving the TVs on in empty rooms, turning up/down the thermostat, leaving the garden hose running. But there are so many less obvious ways to save on your energy that you probably weren't aware of like.....

1. Ceiling fan motors should be reversed to blow air upward in winter. This causes the hot air that rises to your ceiling to be pushed back downwards where you reside. See that little switch. That will reverse the fan.

2. Use a freezer chest. A freezer chest uses less energy than it's upright equivalent. So if you're going to be storing a lot of stuff, a chest is the way to go. It might be a little more difficult to access the stuff on the bottom but you're going to end up using about 11-27% less energy than an upright freezer.

3. Short, dense shrubs (like evergreens) help insulate the foundation of a home AND happen to look really pretty!

4. Paint the interior of your home with lighter colors. (I think lighter colors are trending now-a-days anyway). If your rooms reflect more light you're probably going to wait just a little longer in the day to turn on the lights when it starts to get dark.

5. Use the dishwasher. Handwashing is said to use about 20 gallons of water while an energy efficient dishwasher only uses between 2-8 gallons.

6. Paint the roof. I'm guessing most of you will pass on this one but if you think about it totally makes sense. A white roof will reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than a standard asphalt roof which will help to keep your house cooler along with your air conditioner. This might work well in hot climates where little heating is used.

7. Use a pressure cooker or a toaster oven instead of the oven. We actually do this already! Since we moved into our new home in June I don't think we've used the oven ONCE! No kidding! I use our toaster oven for EVERYTHING. It's big enough to hold a pizza, a caserole dish, heck, probably even a small turkey! Why would you even need an oven?!

8. Plug electronics in a power strip so you can turn off all at once.

9. Cover liquids and wrap foods. Did you know that by leaving your foods exposed it releases moisture which then makes the compressor in your refridgertor work harder?

10. Use copper-bottomed pots and pans. Copper uses heat more efficiently.

Because the more energy you save, the more money you save; and the more money you save the more money you can spend on the things that you love.