Keeping the lights on and making sure everyone in your household has what they need is no easy feat. Being an adult comes with challenges (and ironically, nearly all of these struggles aren’t the ones anybody warned you about). While we can’t help you tackle every difficulty in a single article, we can help you out with one aspect of the adult struggle—managing your energy consumption. If the below tips and ideas are applied, they should be able to save money on your monthly utility bills as well as reduce your impact on the environment.

Speak To Your Utility Company

Of course, utility providers vary across states, townships, and countries, but many of them have savings programs available. Calling your company can let you know if there are options available that could help you out. It’s also a great idea to read through your monthly statements and call the company and speak about any charges you don’t recognize. Sometimes mistakes happen, and they can end up costing you a lot if you’re not careful.

Unplug Things That You Aren’t Using

It might seem like if your appliances, lamps, or electronics are turned off that they’re not sucking energy from the outlets. It turns out this isn’t the case. When something is plugged in, it is still using a bit of energy—spooky, right? To avoid paying for all this energy you’re not actually using, unplug things after you turn them off. The habit might take a second to get into, but once you’re used to it, you won’t have to think about it at all.

Adjust The Temperature A Few Degrees

Making a small adjustment to the temperature of your home (moving the thermostat up or down a few degrees) can end up saving you hundreds of dollars each year. This is particularly important for those of us who use electric heating in the house. Often a degree or two isn’t noticeable to us as we go about our day, making this switch up incredibly easy.

Replace Your Light Bulbs

When the light bulbs in your home burn out, pay attention to what you’re buying to replace them. Not all light bulbs were made with energy efficiency in mind, but those that are, provide the same brightness for far less energy, and therefore less money. You’re usually looking for lights that are either compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or LED bulbs like G9 LED. Energy-efficient bulbs are now also available at comparative prices to traditional bulbs, so they’re not too much trouble to purchase.

Alter Your Hot Water Heating Settings

If you have a hot water heating system, on the heater, there should be a few settings. If you turn down the temperature that the water gets heated to by a few degrees, you almost certainly won’t notice the difference and will be saving all the electricity that heats the water.

Let Clothes Air Dry

Yes, this might not be an option in the cold winter months, depending on where you live, but it is an excellent way to save money in warmer months and climates. Plus, there’s nothing quite like the smell and feel of clothes that have dried on the line. This will save all the energy you would have used to machine dry the clothes. It also helps keep clothes feeling pristine for much longer (dryers are tough on clothing), meaning you might also save money on buying new clothes.

Caulking Windows And Weatherstripping Around Doors

Heating and air conditioning both work by bringing your home to a specific temperature. If there are cracks or gaps where the air from outside can get in, you can bet it’s going to be harder to get your rooms at the right temperature, and therefore, going to cost more electricity. Caulk around the edges of your window panes if you feel any drafts. Likewise, check around the edges of any doors that lead to the outside world on hotter or colder days. If you can feel air seeping through (even if you can’t see the gap or crack), it’s a good idea to look into weatherstripping. It can be applied around the edges of a door to reduce the loss of heat or cold.

The above tips should help you cut energy costs in your home. Once you start seeing the benefits of a little forethought, you might find yourself a little addicted to the rush and looking for more ways to improve your energy consumption. Get familiar with your bill and pay attention to the results of each alteration you make—you’ll be surprised how flexible your utility bill has been all this time.