Seven Tips for Saving on Energy Bills
Almost every average homeowner in Coeur d’Alene sees a spike in energy bills every winter due to the cold nature of this region. You need heat (electric, gas, wood, or other) and will also use a lot of electrical appliances which will see your energy bill go up. And if history can teach us anything, unfortunately these energy prices will continue to rise in the future. However, smart homeowners are doing something different. Nowadays, it is possible to build-energy efficient home that allows you save on energy bills thanks to home construction technology like PermaPanel and similar ones in the market today.
According to the United States Department of Energy (DOE), average US home pays $110.21 monthly in electric bill and about $1600 per year on utility bills alone. Your energy bills alone represent more than 9% of expenditure on housing. No doubt, energy cost money, the more appliances you have in your home, the more bills you will continue to pay.
In this article, you will learn of smart ways you can save money on energy bills.
Top Ways to Save Money on Energy Bills
Seal and Insulate Your Home
You can reduce the money you pay for your home if you have a well-insulated home. This will help you to significantly reduce the money you spend on heating and cooling. You can start by ensuring that your attic is well insulated. If it is not, consider adding more insulation. There are many contractors that specialize in blowing insulation in walls and ceilings, and the cost usually pays for itself within a few short years in additional energy savings.
Again, you will need to fill in and seal any holes that may be present in your exterior walls. Precious heat usually escapes through these holes around the door and windows. If you have pipes that pass into your home, make sure you wrap them insulation to help you maintain the proper temperature in your home.
Shut doors and close curtains
Heat escapes when you leave your doors and windows open. Always make sure that you shut doors to rooms that you are not currently using.
You should only cool the rooms you spend the most time in. You need to ensure that your blinds seal your windows properly especially during the day when there is a heat-wave. You can also stop cool air leaking out when you block draughts around your doors and windows.
It’s also a smart idea to climate zone your house – heating and cooling only the main living areas while you are there, and leaving the rest of the home at lower/higher temperatures.
Replace Your Light Bulbs with Energy-Efficient Bulbs
You pay higher energy bill when you use the traditional incandescent light bulbs. This type of bulb consumes an excessive amount of electricity and produces a lot of heat. You don’t need them. Moreover, high wattage incandescent bulbs have been outlawed in the United States.
You can save money on energy bills when you replace your traditional energy bulbs with LED (Light-emitting diode) light bulbs. This type of bulbs uses about 25-80% less electricity than your traditional incandescent bulb.
Install a Programmable Thermostat
You can save a lot when you install a programmable thermostat. The great thing about this type of thermostat is that you can set it to automatically turn itself off or reduce heating and cooling when you don’t need them.
You can eliminate wasting energy without upgrading your HVAC system with the installation of a programmable thermostat.
Unplug Unused Electronics
According to the Department of Electricity, standby power can account for 10% of an average households annual electricity use. You can save as much as $50 when you unplug unused electronics. Phone chargers are also known to trickle out a steady stream of electricity when not in use, which is wasteful.
Use Natural Lights
Turn of artificial lights during the day and make use of natural light to brighten your home. Moreover, during summer months you can open windows at night to allow cool air to enter the house, and then close the windows before the day gets too warm to help trap the cool air inside.
Make Use of Energy-Efficient Materials
Nowadays, you can save tons of money on energy bill when you make use of energy-efficient materials in your home constructions. Thanks to new home construction technology such as PermaPanel, you won’t need to spend money on buying appliances to keep the right temperature at your home.
PermaPanel helps you to weatherize your home. It is a great way to reduce your expenses on heating and cooling. PermaPanel makes your home airtight and prevents heat or cool air from escaping. It will also save you from spending money on other cooling and heating appliances.
Chart Below Shows How You Consume Energy in Your Home
End use | Billion kWh | Share of total |
Space cooling | 212 | 15% |
Water heating | 131 | 10% |
Lighting | 129 | 9% |
Refrigeration | 100 | 7% |
Space heating | 86 | 6% |
Televisions and related equipment1 | 81 | 6% |
Clothes dryers | 56 | 4% |
Furnace fans and boiler circulation pumps | 32 | 2% |
Computers and related equipment2 | 31 | 2% |
Cooking | 31 | 2% |
Dishwashers3 | 28 | 2% |
Freezers | 21 | 2% |
Clothes washers3 | 7 | 1% |
Other uses4 | 430 | 31% |
Total consumption | 1,374 |
Smart homebuilders in Coeur d’Alene are now making use of PermaPanel in home construction to save cost on heating and cooling.
About Benson Bondstone
Hayden, ID 83835