As summer approaches many people are looking for ways to save money on their home energy bills. On average, Americans spend $2200.00 a year to pay for their heating, cooling and electricity, about 25% of the total living costs. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to reduce those costs if you know what to look for and the fact is that most people waste quite a bit of energy without knowing it. For that reason we put together a blog about energy-saving tips around your home ( and because we love our readers, of course). It’s bad enough to have to spend big bucks every time you go to the gas station with your car so we figured that we help you save a little bit more at home to lighten the damage on your wallet. Enjoy.
One of the first things that you should do is go online and surf to the Energy Star website. Created in 1992 to help reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions and also help consumers lower their energy costs, Energy Star boasts that they have enough tips on their website that you will save about a third on your annual electric bill, or approximately $700 a year. Using their tips they say that Americans were able to save about $17 billion on their energy bills in 2012 and also reduce their greenhouse gases by the equivalent of approximately 30,000,000 automobiles, figures that are nothing to sneeze at if they’re correct.
One of the biggest systems in any home is going to be the HVAC system that controls your heating in the winter and cooling in summer. These two energy using activities alone account for almost 50% of your home’s overall electric bill and so, if you’re looking for ways to cut back on your energy use at home, the first thing you need to do is take a look at your HVAC system and make sure that functioning correctly. There are a number of other things that you can do if you want to make sure that your HVAC isn’t wasting precious energy (and money) such as;
- Purchase a programmable thermostat for your home. A programmable thermostat will allow you to specifically set times during the day when your heating and/or cooling should be turned on and turned off. Research has shown that these devices can shave approximately $200 off of your yearly heating and cooling bill.
- Make sure your HVA C has clean air filters. Simply put, the harder that your system has to work sucking in air the more energy it will use. A good suggestion is to change filters on a monthly basis, at least during the hottest months of summer and coldest months of winter, when the HVAC is under its heaviest workload.
- Any heating and cooling ducts that are exposed should be sealed and insulated, especially those that run through your attic, and unheated basement or garage, crawlspaces and so forth. Doing this alone can improve your HVAC’s efficiency by almost 20%
- Check your windows. Many times older homes have leaky windows and that can cost you a lot of money in the summer and winter months. If you any air escaping from the house is costing you more and more money every day. You should get new energy efficient windows installed by Nashua roofers if you have old drafty windows.
Another system in your home that uses up quite a bit of energy is your water heating system. On average Americans spend approximately $500 per year to heat their water or approximately 15% of their total home energy bill. There are a number of simple ways to reduce this cost including;
- Making sure that your water heater is completely insulated.
- Insulating waterlines that run from your heater to all faucets.
- Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120°F or, if you can, even lower.
- Take shorter showers or turn off the water while you lather up and wash your hair.
- If your water heater is older and your planning on replacing it sometime soon consider purchasing a newer, hot water on demand system. There are several on the market so make sure to check with your local home improvement store and do your research before making a purchase.
About 12% of the average home’s energy bill is used up by lighting. There are a number of ways to lower the cost right away including;
- Making sure that lights are always turned off when not in use.
- Putting timers on outdoor lights so that they don’t stay on all day.
- Purchasing new compact fluorescent light bulbs to replace the old, standard incandescent light bulbs that you no doubt have in your home. (While they are quite a bit more expensive they will use less energy and last much longer.)
Electric appliances account for about another 13% of the average homes energy bill and there are certainly ways to reduce this cost.
- Washing all clothing with cold water is a great way to start.
- Replacing major appliances like refrigerators if they’ve gone past the 15 year mark is going to set you back a few bucks but, in the long run, will save you quite a bit of money.
- Make sure you not only turn off electronics like computers, flatscreen TVs and so forth but, if you are not going to be using them again soon unplug them completely. A great way to save money is to buy a power strip that has a switch and, after putting everything into it, you can then turn everything off with one switch.
Home energy bills eat up quite a bit of the average American family’s budget that’s for sure. Using these tips should help you to lower those costs and leave you with a little extra money to stuff into your savings or retirement account at the end of the month. We hope you enjoyed this blog and we urge you to come back sometime soon as we always posting information, advice and tips like these for all of our readers to use and enjoy. See you then.