The power bill. . . ugh. Every month or two you are greeted with this nasty little bugger. If you are like me and your enormous power bills have you overwhelmed, there are some steps you can take that are very effective and quite simple and can reduce or eliminate your monthly costs. This article will give you some simple things that are easy to do, and they’ll reduce your power bill right away. Limited use: Begin with the room you’re in right now. If you headed to the dining room to eat with your family or went to the phone in another room, would you just leave this room without thinking about the electrical appliances there? If so, stop and look around you. Turn off every appliance, even if you’re coming back in a few minutes. Yes, just that small step will help. Every water drop contributes to the ocean. Another thing to pay attention to is what constitutes an electronic appliance. Would you turn off the fan and the TV, but leave the light on? You need light, of course, but not when you leave the room. Taking care of little things like this really makes a difference on your power bill. If you have a forced air HVAC system and a basement you can turn off the air conditioning and turn on the furnace fan (usually a setting on the digital thermostat or a button in the furnace itself). This can cycle the cooler basement air to the upper levels of the house. You can also seal off the cold air returns on the upper levels of the house to force the unit to pull primarily from the cooler basement air and distribute it throughout the house. Smart investments: Replace any incandescent bulbs with CFL, or Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs. These bulbs are a perfect investment to save power. Buy a Power Save unit. This gadget monitors your power supply as it comes into your house, and uses only the minimum required. Home appliance usage: It’s common to complain about sky-high electricity bills due to the amount of electrical appliances we have. But your electricity bill isn’t proportional to how many appliances you have, just how you use them. Let’s look at how to avoid typical power-wasters. Adjust your fridge to be slightly less cool and if you have a deep freezer consider buying less frozen food in bulk and using the fridge freezer only (save about $30/month). Only use your washing machine if you have a full load to wash, and use a clothes line rather than a dryer. Turn you computer monitor off at night. Unplug appliances when not in use as all electrical devices still draw power, even when not in use. Unplug toasters, toaster ovens, rice makers, blenders,un-used tvs, etc. Use the plastic barriers that are taped over windows that are not often used. I did this last winter for the first time and I am still amazed at the amount of air that was coming through the patio doors and a couple of windows. Check the weather stripping around exterior doors. If they leak spend a few dollars and replace them. Here is another one that shocked me. Some windows were very drafty due to dried caulking. So spend a couple of dollars and re-caulk around exterior window frames and inside in the cracks between the window trim and frame. Check all receptacle outlets on exterior walls (and interior walls on older homes as you would be amazed at where a serious draft can be hiding) for drafts with a lighter. There are inexpensive foam insulation kits that can be purchased at any hardware store just for this use. If you have a fireplace make certain that it is closed tight and check for drafts. If it is still sucking heat out of you house then stuff insulation up inside, but make certain to remove it before lighting a fire! Open curtains in the winder to let in the sun’s heat and close them in the summer. Yes, you need to keep doing these strategies to save power, for you and the whole world. If you have an attic it is likely a cooker in the summer. If you have fans, vents, windows, etc. that lets the heat escape you can improve the air flow by opening the attic hatch or ladder and your door to your basement if you have one. Since hot air rises the hot air exiting the attic vents will draw the cooler air up into the house by giving the attic a supply of air to allow movement. Remember, cutting down your electricity bill saves power, and therefore helps the people of the world have power for the future.