We do not pay much attention on how much electricity we use each day in our homes. And we are all guilty of wasting energy because of our bad habits.
How did we get here? Cheap electricity.
But times are changing. The cost of power today is much higher, and wasting your energy is not only depleting your wallet but also making you uncool, a contributor to a climate change.
Saving energy at home is a personal choice, but by doing the following simple things you can bring down your electrical bill and lower your carbon footprint.
LED lights
Are you still using old light bulbs? Stop! Replace your old bulbs. Not only the new LEDs last 2-3 times longer, but they also use up to 80% less energy that your incandescent bulbs.
So, just because you have a stockpile of old bulbs, doesn’t mean you should use them.
Leaving lights on
An obvious bad habit, leaving lights on when you leave the room. Leaving the room? Turn of the lights. If you’re bad at it, get yourself a smart home system so you can control your house from your phone. The prices for home automation are very low already. Invest $200 – $300 and you’ll save that over a couple of years on the electrical and heating bill.
Here is a good place to start – Amazon Home.
Energy suckers
Leaving your electronics plugged in all the time is adding up to 10% to your monthly bill. Don’t believe me? Buy a Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor, and plug in your electronics or appliances that you don’t use for a day to see if it’s still eating the energy. You’ll be surprised.
TV, DVR, PlayStation or Xbox, cable box, audio receiver, phone and laptop chargers, printer, coffee machine, PC and monitors in a sleeping mode – once you see how much electricity your turned off stuff is really using, you’ll think twice about leaving it on when you don’t use it.
Easiest solution? Buy power strips. When going to sleep, just push a button and turn it all off. Churn it back on when you get home. It doesn’t seem like much, but an average household would save $10 a month.
Thermostats
Still have an old thermostat? That’s fine, but do you program it correctly?
You should program it based on your family needs and schedule, do not use the pre-programed option for Arizona, when you live in Minnesota.
Better yet, get a new Smart Thermostat let it learn your patterns and schedule, and set itself automatically.
Change your Air Filters
Follow this rule. New season – new filter.
Besides the obvious, they’re dirty, each season bring new dust or dirt to your HVAC system. These microscopic particles, you might not even see on your filter, but trust me, they’re there. Dust, pollen, bacteria, plant mold, spores, smoke, it’s all in your filter.
But the most important part, is all this stops your home heating and cooling system from working properly.
So, as a rule, set your google or ical calendar for the first day of summer, fall, winter and spring. Not only you’ll breath better, but your energy efficiency will go up.
And please change your filters twice as often if you have pets.
