The easiest and most effective way is to shop for a lower electricity rate. But, there are plenty of ways to lower the AMOUNT of energy you use too. Combining a lower rate with lower electricity and gas usage can mean the world to your monthly energy budget. Some methods take a little self-discipline, like picking a sedan rather than a SUV. Others require an investment like choosing more efficient appliances even if the price tag is a little more. Sometimes, though, the best energy savings come from methods that are cheap and easy – that’s what you’ll find in this article – 10 free things you can do right now to lower your energy consumption.

2. Run your Heater and A/C at more reasonable temperatures. $100+/month – I would have a hard time taking my own advice, I like to see my breath in the summer and walk the house in my boxers in the dead of winter. But, I digress – with a little self discipline and a ceiling fan, habits can be broken. Set your thermostat 5° F to 10° F lower when your sleeping or away from the house. In most of the country, 10° lower in the winter can mean 20% savings on electricity or gas. You can always burn some of your electric bills in the fireplace, don’t they deserve it? Before you add a layer of clothing to stave off frostbite from the AC in the summer, consider that for every 1° you raise the temperature, your energy costs go down 3°. Follow this advice from ElectricBids Experts and you could save $100+ per month.1. Put your PC to sleep. $25/month – Don’t worry, putting your pc to sleep is painless and it doesn’t require a trip to the vet. If you put both your computer and monitor in “sleep mode” (set it up to go to sleep automatically.  instead of leaving them on 24/7, you will use 80% less electricity, which over a year could equal 1,250 pounds of CO2 reduction and more dollars in your wallet.

4. Don’t overdry your laundry. $10/month –  Heating the water in the washer uses lots of electricity, but so does heating the air in the dryer. It also raises the temperature in your house requiring more A/C time to cool it back down. If you remove your laundry a couple minutes before or just after your machine buzzes you, you will have less ironing and your clothes will last longer. If you’re about to replace your dryer, find one that has a moisture sensor – they are more accurate than thermostat models.3. Wash your laundry on “Cold” setting. $10+/month – Guess what, most of the electricity your washing machine uses doesn’t come from the party your socks are having during the vigorous swishing cycle. The fact is that 90% of the electricity is consumed heating up the water. If you can stand having clothes that keep their bright colors, you’ll save a lot by washing and rinsing in cooler water. Thanks to incredible space-age 21st century advances, and declassification of secret cold-war clothes-washing technology, cold-water detergents are available to handle just about everything in your hamper. ElectricBids.com Experts calculate a potential $10+ per month savings by using this tip.

5. Let your dishwasher do it’s job. $15/month – Pre-rinsing dishes to make your dishwashers job easier not only makes it lazy and less respected by the other kitchen appliances, the added step can waste 20+ gallons of heater water/day. Scrape off the extra food with your fork and let enzyme-based dishwasher detergents lend a helping hand for spotless dishes that don’t cost you an extra $15 in wasted electricity.

6. Less fire, More Money. $15/month – Your normal, everyday fireplace sucks (heated) air out of the room and sends it out into the atmosphere. Frankly, the atmosphere prefers to control its temperature without your interference. Assuming you’ve been heating your house through the central system, you’re pouring those electricity and gas dollars down the drain….er…sending them up the chimney. The free version of this is to just stop burning fires. For those who can’t do without the flames, try a direct-vent, sealed-combustion gas fireplace. It’s reported that these units have energy efficiencies of around 70%, which isn’t quite as efficient as a radiator, but satisfies that primal need for fire…ugh ugh.

8. A/C TLC $15/month – The last two homes I have owned seem to have been in the middle of Cottonwood forests, because I had to constantly spray down the outside unit to improve efficiency. If you keep leaves and other debris away from the outside unit (condenser) and replace the filter in the inside unit (air handler) regularly, your A/C will show it’s thanks by reducing your electricity bill by $200 per year.7. Shades (and windows) – very cool. $20/month – Heating and cooling are, by far, America’s biggest household electricity expense. One of the most underutilized methods of controlling cooling costs is the use of shades in west facing rooms and open windows on cooler nights. The surface of the sun is about 10,000°, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s cooled down much by the time those rays hit our homes. Simply pulling down and closing your window treatments, or using solar screens, can help you cut electricity use cooling your home artificially.

10. Save electricity on heating your water. $5/month – Most household uses of hot water require a temperature no warmer than 120° (“low” on your hot water heater’s dial). If your tank feels hot to the touch, you should add insulation. Try wrapping the heater with attic insulation or buy a blanket made for wrapping water heaters. You can also wrap the hot water pipes, if you can get to them. An added bonus to the extra money is an extra 4° F in the temperature of your water at the end of it’s journey to your faucet.9. Nuke it, or you’ll pay. $5/month – Granted, some food just tastes better when heated in the oven, but that leftover meatloaf will be just fine with a quick trip to the microwave. Ovens of the microwave variety use just 20% of the electricity that conventional ovens use, not to mention the reduced need to cool your kitchen down from the oven’s radiated heat. This tip is most useful in the summer. In the winter, that extra heat from the oven isn’t so bad.

We’ve outlined 10 free, easy steps you can take to lower your electric bill by hundreds of dollars. The easiest and most effective step of all is to make sure you’re paying the lowest rate available to you for the electricity you do use. Take 5 minutes to shop electricity rates and you’ll be on your way to the lowest electricity bill you’ve seen in ages.