How to reduce your electricity bill: Tricks that actually work
💡 Quick Tip
Learn to identify which appliances consume the most energy and discover proven tactics to reduce your monthly electricity bill without sacrificing comfort. Optimize your contracted power, change your habits, and easily save hundreds of euros a year.
The invisible energy drain
The electricity bill is a major headache. Much of what we pay comes from inefficiencies, excess contracted power, and "phantom power" (devices in stand-by mode).
Immediate impact strategies
To notice a drastic drop, focus on heavy consumers:
- Review contracted power: Lowering your capacity by just one tier yields fixed monthly savings.
- The fridge is king: It runs 24/7. Adjust temps (4ºC fridge, -18ºC freezer) and never put hot food inside.
- Kill phantom power: Unused TVs and chargers use up to 10% of your bill. Use power strips with switches to turn them off entirely at night.
- Cold washing: 80% of a washer's energy goes to heating water. Wash at 30ºC or cold.
Use time-of-use tariffs
If your tariff varies by time of day, adapt. Running the dishwasher during off-peak hours cuts the cost in half. Changing routines costs nothing but saves plenty.
📊 Practical Example
Practical example with real numbers
A family pays €100 a month for electricity. They apply three basic changes:
- Lowering contracted power: Saves a fixed €5 a month.
- Killing phantom power with strips: Saves 10% of usage, about €7 monthly.
- Moving 3 washes to off-peak hours: Washing cold and cheaper saves €8 a month.
Their bill drops to €80 monthly. They generated €20 in savings without freezing or sweating. Annually, that is an extra €240 in their pocket, enough to pay almost three full months of electricity the following year.
