The Easiest Things You Can Do to Lower Your PG&E Bill

Are you thrilled about the probably high cost of your monthly PG&E bill? Chances are, unless you're running everything on solar, you're in a position where you can do a few things around the house to help lower your bill. They're all things that are pretty easy to do and can add up to substantial savings. I've put the below list together to help get you started on the low hanging fruit:

PG&E has a handy utility energy audit website for you to check out. Just login to your account and you'll get some custom recommendations.

Perform a comprehensive energy audit on your home by a qualified specialist. A lot of heat is lost through windows, poor ventilation or insulation, or just plain old holes from areas where insulation is missing.

HERS energy audit

Better insulation and temp will decrease aquarium cost

Has your heating system been serviced recently?

Radiant heat as a possibility?

Replace freezer with energy star, recycle old one

Clean coils behind fridge (can lower bill by 10 percent), set fridge to 38-40 and freezer to 0-5 degrees

CFL lights throughout home

Passive house model on p 15 in germany

Shut your computers off at night or when you're not using them. Depending on how much you spend per kilowatt, you could easily be spending ten cents an hour to run a desktop PC or Mac.

Insulate the hot water lines from your hot water heater. And, if your hot water heater is at least 12 years old, you might consider getting a new one -- over time, the water in the tank becomes calcified and the older the hot water heater gets, the more calcium deposits build up. It's possible for an older heater for half the tank to be calcium

How old is our hot water heater?

Set hot water heater temp to 120 degrees using thermometer

How well is the hot water heater insulated? R10-R15? Are combustion gases being safely carried out of the home?

Move hot water heater to outside the home?

Get shower buddys

Always run full loads in washer and dryer

Use air dry setting in dishwasher

Energy Star ceiling fans for upstairs

Cool roof - can get energy star ones too

Install carbon monoxide detectors near gas burning appliance

Up to 30 percent of energy consumed by heating and cooling equipment can be wasted by air leaks in walls, ceilings, and floors