Saving energy not only reduces your electricity bill (yay!) but also helps the environment (yehaw!). We have some tips and tricks to share with you to help you to conserve electricity in your home. All it takes is a few small changes to see some large savin’s on your electricity bill.
- Be aware of the temperature in your home. Try to keep your home at 78 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter. Every degree away from those targets can increase your usage by as much as 8%.
- Don’t Cool or Heat an Empty House. Manually turn the turn the thermostat up when you leave for work in the summer, and down during the winter to conserve energy. Make your life even easier by purchasing an ecobee Thermostat enhanced from Energy Texas and it will take the hassle away. You can go one step further and consider closing off rooms and vents in areas of the house that aren’t used as frequently.
- Use fans to circulate the cool air from the air conditioner. Ceiling fans work especially well when you set them to move the air upward.
- Move furniture away from air vents to improve air circulation.
- Seal any cracks in your home – Look for holes around the doors and windows in your home. Although they’re little in size, they are definitely increasing your electricity bill by as much as 15-30%!
- Replace your air filters on a monthly basis. If you don’t, the build up of dirt on your filter ultimately restricts airflow and causes your AC unit to work harder.
- Make sure to wash your clothes on cold. LG Electronics reports that we use 90% of energy just from heating the water in our washing machines. You can also air drying your clothes afterwards to conserve heat emitted from your dryer.
- Unplug unused electronics, as they are silent energy guzzlers. While some aren’t as bad, the big three electronics that eat away electricity even when they are idle are video game systems, computers and television sets.
- Purchase LED lightbulbs when it’s time replace a bulb. Just one LED bulb may save you $50 over the course of it’s lifetime.
- Don’t open your oven when it’s on. As tempting as that is, opening the oven door can drop the oven temperature as much as 25 degrees, requiring more energy to heat it back up again.