How to Save on Your Home Energy Bills
All summer long, you’ve probably been trying to keep cool without causing a jump in your energy bills.
It’s not always an easy task as temperatures continue to rise, but you can beat the heat while minimizing the costs of your air conditioning. You can start with these five tips.
- Keep up with HVAC maintenance. Help your heating and cooling systems work smarter, not harder. If your air conditioning has to work harder to cool your home, it will use more energy and drive up your bill. Swapping out filters regularly and keeping up with maintenance recommendations helps the system run efficiently.
- Install smart thermostats. Smart thermostats connect to your Wi-Fi, allowing you to control your home’s temperature from your phone. Some can even adjust themselves based on whether or not you’re in your house. On average, people save 8% (or $50) annually on their heating and cooling bills with these thermostats.
- Take care of drafts. Keeping cool air inside and hot air outside can translate into savings. Sealing cracks around your doors and windows is a relatively easy project that could lead to energy savings of 10% to 20%.
- Use your ceiling fans. On warm days, the cool air circulated by a ceiling fan could mean you don’t need to use your air conditioner. And when it’s hot outside, your ceiling fan could help prevent you from lowering the temperature of your air conditioning.
- Invest in efficient appliances. Upgrading appliances can be expensive, but choosing Energy Star-certified ones can lead to lower costs. Consider efficiency when it comes time to replace your refrigerator, washing machine or other appliances.
Keeping track of your energy consumption by looking at your electric bill each month or downloading a usage monitoring app can help you see your progress.
As you consider your finances or make updates to your home, you may realize that your insurance policies need to be changed. If so, please get in touch for help.
