My electric bill is consistently over $100 monthly

Actually I think that is pretty cheap. If you are running an air conditioner, considering not running it. In fact, they use a lot of electric so you could use fans. Buy florescent light bulbs. I believe they cost 20 USD for a pack of three. Okay, don't go crazy, but we bought some about 4 years ago, and we have them in various lights (that take the regular light bulbs) and we haven't had to change them ever since. Also, they use less electric and let off less heat in your house. Make sure that your appliances have the Energy Star on them. If they don't, then they may be using a lot of electricity. You may want to consider buying appliances that are Energy Star compliant. If you use your computer, turn it off (or put it on standby) when you aren't using it. It will use a lot of electric when it's on. If you aren't in a room turn the lights off, if you have people living in your house tell them to turn off the electric (lights, computer, or various other items) that they aren't using. Oh yes, I forgot to mention. If you are not using your TV for many times, unplug it. We have one room in our house we have a TV, but use it only about 5 times or so a year. If it's plugged in, it is still using electricity, so you may want to unplug appliances that you hardly ever use. Have a nice day Pablo

My dad is an electrician and he tell people that they should switch all their lightbulbs to the energy saving ones. You know those one that are like a swirl shape instead of the normal ones. I'll ask him for some more.

Yep, I have the same problem. Every month my bill goes up, and I can't figure out why! Sure, I've unplugged all the chargers, the stereo system, the "Glade Plug-Ins", I turn off my monitor and computer speakers, and the printers, and the lights, and STILL my bill is horrendous. I don't use the stove that much, and my dishwasher only once or twice in a week. I think it's my old refrigerator! I live in an apartment where they supply the air conditioners, dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. I think their old junk is sucking up all the power. I'm continually checking the fridge to make sure that it's not constantly running! I've even put a Velcro strap on my freezer, so that once it's closed, it gets really tightly sealed. We used to have a problem with it not closing completely, so I fixed that up right away. I do need to go to a flat panel monitor - it would save a lot of juice. These "free models" that we find on the side of the road are just not energy efficient. Uhhh...mine even has an "Energy Star" sticker on it, but it's still too much electricity for me. We've switched most of the lights in our apartment to the new florescents - and even that has not cut down on our bill. I'm at my wits end with paying high energy bills. Someday I'm going to have a house, and when I do, you can bet that I'm going to install six gigantic solar panels on the roof, and sell my power right back to LIPA! I'll get them for all these years of robbing me blind. Grrrrrrrr!

Oh wow! My electricity bill is tiny if the air-conditioner is not on because I live alone and most of the day I am at work, the only time I switch on lights and stuff in my place would be at night time. I would really recommend switching on less lights when you are around. Don't even use any lights if you can see in the morning or afternoon. Also, turn off the TV completely instead of using the remote to switch it off (that would save bunches). It also depends on how many people live in your place, when my mom comes back, the bill is usually higher because she has to do stuff around the house and she uses a lot of lights. I think you can tell your family members to switch everything off if it's not necessary. I only use the air con during weekends too because I want to save my bills. You can turn on the air on for a few hours and then switch it off when the rooms are cool. It works too!

Depending on where you live, that may be the norm for electric bills. I just moved out of Illinois, where EVERYONE was seeing major rate hikes after the beginning of the new year. Even without running our AC, the electric bill was close to $100 a month. As for tips on how to lower your bill, if you do need to use the air conditioning in the summer time (or the heat in the winter time), it's important to make sure that your house is well insulated and doesn't have any leaky windows or doors. Also, be sure to shut down any electronic items that you aren't using--computers, DVD players, etc. If you have any chargers, for example, a cell phone charger, be sure to unplug it after your items are charged. These may be minor uses of electricity, but every little bit helps!

There are several things you can do to cut down on electricity costs, depending on your situation. I found a message board with a LOT of great tips. "http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf712623.tip.html" Hope this helps!

In the summer months, we need our air conditoner because it is so very hot here. To offset the use of the air conditioner, I take a lot of my clothing outside and dry them over the backs of our lawn chairs! I also bought a wooden clothes rack to set up and dry undies and things on. We save a great deal when I don't dry a lot in the dryer. Towels take forever in the dryer, so I put them over the backs of the chairs. They are often dry in an hour outside! We cook almost daily in the crock pot so that we aren't using the stove/oven as much. We put a timer in the bathroom ....so our two teens would stop their showers at 7 minutes! They would stay in the hot shower indefinitely I believe!

I have given a detailed suggestion in reply to a similar question. The highlights are here: a) Use Compact Fluorescence Lamps instead of normal filament bulbs b) Use table lamp instead of room lights c) Get your refrigerator cheched; its door rubber might have been damaged or the door may be out of alignment, causing leakage of heat

Actually that isn't too bad of a bill for electric. When I was living in a duplex with my boyfriend ours averaged at $120 per month, my parents have a good size house theres are over $200 a month! There are many things that do suck up a lot of electricity, do you have 2 refriderators? setting your ac at I think 77 or 78 degrees helps, computers, tvs, washing machines and such. My boyfriend has so much tv and stereo equipment, dvd players and electronical things that sucks up a lot too.

I can understand that. It also depend the size of your house and numbers of rooms. Use of heater, aircon, cooking and washing dishes with running warm water are all the main cause of electicity. For my case, I cook three meals a day. Thus, most of the electric bill goes to cooking. I do not on the heater neither aircon. I uses fans when the weather is hot and put on thick clothing instead of heater.