Depending on what part of the country you live in, your power bill may be better or worse during the summer months, but even if you are in the “better” phase, you are probably dreading when the temp goes down and your power bill goes back up.  Does this sound about right? Well, let’s finally make a change, folks! Let’s save money on your power bill!

How, though?  Well here are some tried and true tricks for saving on our power bill that you can start implementing now:

• Turn down your thermostat.  Glaringly simple, but it works!  Turn down your thermostat by a couple of degrees.  A couple of degrees doesn’t make much difference in your home, but can make a huge difference in your bill.
• Install drapes. Drapes can do a lot in saving on your energy usage.  They will help you to hold heat in instead of allowing it to escape out the windows.
• Install draft barriers on your windows.  You can go to Walmart (or other big box store) and buy a window draft kit for a couple of dollars.  That couple of dollars can save you hundreds over the course of a year or two. It prevents cold air from getting in and warm air from escaping out.  
• Use a draft snake at the bottom of doors.  Like the windows, you can lose a ton of warm air and therefore money from your exterior doors.
• Turn down your water heater.  Again, just a degree or two can make a big difference in your power bill, while not really making a difference in the feeling of the water.
• Use a clothes line.  If the weather is nice, consider hanging your clothes out to dry in order to run your dryer less.  Your dryer is one of the biggest energy hogs in the house, so anytime you use it less, you will save money.

What do you do to save money on your energy costs?