Tips For Reducing Energy Costs In Your Home
Reducing electricity costs is often an overlooked method of saving money for many homeowners. After all, many homeowners assume they are paying what they need to. While it’s true, you will have to pay for the electricity you are using, certain things can be done to reduce your expenses considerably. Even a small amount of savings on your utility bills can result in substantial savings with the average family spending nearly $2,000 per year on utility bills [1]. In this article, you will learn about some of the different things you can do to dramatically reduce your home energy costs.
1. Installing A Smart Thermostat
While a lot of smart devices will deliver more convenience than energy savings, a smart thermostat is capable of delivering both. A smart or even a programmable thermostat will end up helping you save a lot of money on your utility bills due to its effectiveness at optimizing your heating and cooling system. A smart thermostat will be able to learn your home usage patterns and your preferences. As a result, it will be able to optimize both heating and cooling to adapt to your life. You can set it up to shut off while you are away for long periods at work and to turn on 30 minutes or so before you reaching home. This alone can make it dramatically more efficient and save you hundreds per year on avoiding unnecessary or inefficient heating and cooling expenses.
2. Insulate Your Home
To properly maximize the efficiency of your heating and cooling, you will need to conduct a detailed assessment of your home to ensure you aren’t wasting money because of leaks. You want to check your attic for insulation, check insulation in your walls, and even in crawl spaces. If all of these are properly insulated, you should look at your windows and doors. These are common areas your home may have gaps that can cause hot or cold air to leak out. These issues are easily solvable with different insulation products like weather strips or caulk-seals that you can use to improve the thermal efficiency of your home.
3. Individual Switch Power Strips
This is one that can maximize your savings effortlessly. While unplugging electronics is not entirely practical, using individual switches is. If you get a power strip with individual switches, you will be able to shut off electronics or beefy appliances that you aren’t using. This can keep the power drain to a minimum. Believe it or not, but these appliances and large electronics use several watts of power even while they are not being actively used. By getting a power switch with individual switches, you can negate this issue entirely by switching the outlet you need either on or off whenever necessary.
4. Install Smart Lights and Use Natural Lighting
Your lights will account for around 12 percent of your annual home energy bill [2]. Because of this, you want to try to minimize this significant cost. One of the best and easiest ways to do so is by installing smart lighting. By installing smart lighting products, you will be able to use better lighting technology that is more energy-efficient and you will also be able to program them to cater to your lifestyle. Also, the added convenience of being able to turn them on or off using your voice, an app, or the Internet can make it much more likely you will only use them when needed. Try to use as much natural light as possible throughout each day. Take advantage of natural lighting through your doors and windows and you should see your energy bill drop significantly.
5. Apply For The Low Income Home Energy Assistant Program (LIHEAP)
If eligible, you can apply for a Government-funded program that will offer you financial assistance to deal with home energy costs. This program is meant to assist with everything from dealing with energy-related home repairs and even bill payment assistance [3].
As you can see, you can make a dent in your energy bill by making simple adjustments to your life. Also, by getting better and more energy-efficient products in your home, you can make it much easier and more practical to save big on your utility bills. While these products do have an initial cost to consider, the ongoing savings make it more than worth it.
References:
[1] https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/06/f2/energy_savers.pdf
[2] https://www.energystar.gov/products/ask-the-expert/breaking-down-the-typical-utility-bill
[3] https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/623
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