If rising utility bills have you walking around in the dark in an attempt to lower your electrical usage, it’s time to take a more effective approach towards managing your energy expenses. To save the most money, you need to address your home’s biggest energy spenders. Use the following tips all around your house to enjoy significant savings.
Seal Up Your Building’s Envelope
Heating and cooling accounts for more than half of the average household’s energy use, so focus on strategies that make it cheaper to maintain the ideal temperature in your home. Begin by tightening the seal on your home’s outer structure to prevent the heat that you’ve paid to heat or cool to escape outside. Weatherstrip drafty windows and doors. Plug gaps around plumbing, electrical and gas conduits. Use window coverings to hold heat indoor during the winter and block out solar radiation in the summer.
Install a Programmable Thermostat
Although no one wants to come home at the end of a hectic day to an uncomfortably cold or hot environment, leaving your AC or heater operating full blast while you’re away can send your heating and cooling bills skyrocketing. With a programmable thermostat, you can schedule temperatures for different time periods in advance, ensuring that you’re always comfortable when you’re at home while saving you money when you’re not.
Control Water Heating Costs
The biggest hot-water guzzler is often the hot water heater, but leaks in pipes and poorly performing fixtures can drive up your hot water usage as well. It’s worth your while to have your hot-water-using fixtures assessed by a professional for energy efficiency. Reputable plumbers, such as Need-A-Plumber Canada, plumbers in Calgary, can check everything in a single visit and suggest the best money-saving options for you.
Banish Energy Vampires
Home electronics like video game consoles, televisions and cell phone chargers can drain energy even when they’re not in use. You can often identify these energy vampires by an LED light that stays on after you’re turned the device off. To save money, hook them up to a power strip with a switch that lets you cut the electricity at the source. If you’re accustomed to leaving a home computer on all day, program it to switch to standby or hibernate mode when not in use.
Although you can’t control electric rates or fuel costs, you can make simple and affordable home improvements that lower your energy bills without sacrificing comfort and convenience. You’ll not only save money but will help conserve the nation’s natural resources too.
