Thursday | January 23, 2025
As temperatures drop to single digits this weekend, we encourage you to be mindful of your energy usage. Understanding how cold weather impacts energy demand and costs can help you save on your next power bill and reduce strain on the power grid. Here are some energy-saving tips to keep in mind:
- Get your heating system regularly maintained and serviced by a HVAC professional so that it is working at peak efficiency. Keep your furnace clean and change the filter monthly.
- Regularly vacuum or clean vents.
- If you have a fireplace, keep the damper closed when not in use. If you do not use your fireplace, plug, and seal the flume.
- Do not heat an empty home. A programmable or smart thermostat can help this become automatic. According to the Department of Energy, lowering the temperature by 7 to 10 degrees for 8 hours a day can reduce energy costs by up to 10 percent.
- A leaky house is expensive to heat. According to Energy.gov, sealing uncontrolled air leaks can save from $83 to $166 a year. Weather stripping double-hung windows can save $42 to $86 annually. Windows, doors, attics, attic access, outlets, walls, and chimneys, as well as pipes entering or exiting your home are common sources of air leaks.
- Let the sun shine in your home during the day to use Mother Nature’s warmth. Close window coverings after dusk, however, to reduce heat loss.
- Run your ceiling fans in a clockwise direction. Doing so will push down and redistribute warm air that naturally rises.
- Consider turning down your water heater to 120 or 125°F. Also install a water heater blanket to help insulate it to give it a step up in warming your water.
- When it comes time to replace your furnace or any part of your HVAC system, consider replacing it with an energy efficient version by looking for the EnergyStar designation.
- Decrease the use of the built-in ventilation fans in your kitchen and bathrooms. In the colder months, they do a good job of transferring heat from inside your home to the backyard. Use the fans only when needed and turn them off as soon as you can.
- Bring in the moisture with a humidifier or research other ways to do that (e.g. well-watered plants, containers of water throughout the home). Dry air makes the air feel colder and increasing moisture in the air causes indoor air to retain more heat.
Contact us for more information about energy audits or energy efficiency. For more information about electrical safety, visit safeelectricity.org.
