I’m a budgeting pro – how a simple thermostat trick can save you between $50 and $100 on your monthly energy bill

Heatwaves in SUMMER result in exceptionally high electricity bills.

As fuel prices have risen, so have electricity tariffs, making it even more expensive to cool your home.

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Running the air conditioner and ceiling fans all the time will definitely add to your bill, especially if you have your air conditioner set to a lower temperature.

Though she admits she’s no energy expert, @Small.Town.Swag’s Candice on TikTok said a trick she learned saved her up to $100 a month.

In one of her videos, Candice shared what she’s doing to save money on heating and cooling her home year-round.

Try raising your thermostat by a degree or two during the day, and only crank it up to what you normally have at night.

Candice said she usually keeps her house at around 72 degrees, so she turns it up to 73 degrees during the day.

“If I keep it at 72, I’ve noticed that sometimes during the day when it’s at its hottest, my thermostat sometimes struggles to keep up,” she says.

She’s noticed a difference of between $50 and $100 on her electric bills if she does it “religiously,” she says.

Sandra Diggs-Miller, vice president of customer service at Entergy New Orleans, told Fox8 that cooling system costs can account for more than half of your electric bill in the summer.

She recommends people set their air conditioners to 78 degrees to save money.

It sounds high, but every degree below 78 can add up to 3% to your bill.

Households that set their thermostats to 22 degrees unknowingly increased their bill by 18% in a single month.

More savings opportunities

An easy way to lower your electric bills is to unplug “vampire devices”.

These are electronic devices that continue to use electricity even when they are turned off.

For example, a television alone only costs about $10 in “vampire fees,” but anything it connects to can add to your bill.

If you have a cable box, you’re likely to lose another $10 while the TV is off, and the same goes for any audio systems you might have connected to your TV.

The worst culprit is the DVR, which can consume up to $30 worth of electricity every year.

All in all, you could shave $20 to $70 off your bill by unplugging and not just turning off your entertainment systems.

With so many cables, you might want to consider a surge protector to manage and eliminate multiple loads at once with the flick of a switch.

The same goes for chargers, which are typically plugged into an outlet and never moved.

None of this will add up to more than a handful of dollars over a year, but you could doom your wallet to death by cutting a thousand.

If you live alone and usually only charge your phone overnight, the savings on your bill are so small that it might not be worth unplugging your charger when not in use.

But if you have multiple devices on the hook or live with others, the costs can add up quickly, while the hassle of unplugging a few is minimal.

Depending on how many chargers you typically have plugged in at once, you can save over $20 annually by unplugging a few when not in use.

Reduce your electric bill even further by checking to see if you qualify for Verizon’s Free Internet Service initiative.

Also, here are the best energy-saving smart home devices to keep your electricity bills down.