How To Save Money On Utilities In The Summer

By Chris Tanner | Thu, Baronial 30, 18

As nosotros button through the last months of summer, battered by record heat waves, the energy grid is put to the ultimate test. The increase in demand on the grid is normally passed on to us, the consumer, as a higher energy bill. How can we keep cool while likewise reducing our free energy costs, and in turn, our free energy usage?

Here are ten tips to help you vanquish the oestrus, save coin, and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Requite your air conditioner a checkup – or a replacement

One of the well-nigh of import factors in reducing energy costs and keeping cool is maximizing the efficiency of your cooling systems. Immigration a clogged A/C unit filter alone can save v to 15 percent in energy use¹ , and will aid keep the unit in proper working guild for longer – saving you money on expensive replacements downwards the road.

ii. Suit your thermostat

In the summer, particularly on particularly hot days, "adjusting the thermostat" evokes the feeling of furiously pressing the down arrow on the control console. Unfortunately, this is as well the virtually efficient way to maximize your energy beak. During the summertime months, try to keep your thermostat at a temperature merely cool plenty to keep you comfortable, so bump it up a caste. Ane study found that each degree a thermostat is set to a higher place 75⁰F could salvage 10-fifteen per centum in energy used!

three. Spend fourth dimension outdoors

I know what you're thinking – I'thou trying to stay absurd! Just what is summer for other than getting together with friends and enjoying the things we can't during the colder months? Carpe diem! When you're out of the house, you're not using energy that would otherwise be used to cool yous off. Turning off lights, air-conditioning, and not using energy-consumers like water heating or cooking tin help reduce your free energy costs. Every minute counts!

iv. Unplug devices

When yous do decide to get out of the firm, unplugging devices from their corresponding outlets or using smart power strips can help reduce energy costs by eliminating "phantom" or "standby" electricity that appliances, chargers, and standard power strips use, even when not in apply.

5. Use fans instead of A/C

We've talked a lot most how to make y'all're A/C more efficient – but did yous know fans use roughly 1/60th the energy of an air conditioner? Ceiling fans can cut back on air conditioning needs, saving upward to forty per centum on electricity.ⁱ Fans, while they don't cool the air, they pull trunk heat abroad from your peel, and can be used in conjunction with air-conditioning, letting you enhance your thermostat a few degrees and still remain comfortable.

6. Plants can provide much needed shade

You may have experienced the phenomenon of walking into the shade on a hot summer day and instantly feeling a meaning difference in temperature. Now imagine if your house could be in the shade during the hottest hours of the mean solar day! Planting shrubs and trees on the south and westward sides of your house, or at least over your outdoor A/C unit of measurement, can make your cooling systems up to x per centum more efficient.¹

seven. Lower your water heating costs

Water heating accounts for near xviii percent of the energy consumed in your home.² Lowering the temperature of your water heater tin can help relieve energy, and who needs a scalding hot shower in the summer anyway?

Laundry, another water-sus scrofa, can also be optimized in the summer. Make sure you maximize your loads – this non only gets you more than for your money, but too helps you lot exercise laundry less oftentimes. Doing laundry with cold h2o and hang drying are other ways to salvage even more on your energy bills.

8. Utilise electricity during off-peak hours

The time of twenty-four hours you utilize electricity is also very important when information technology comes to saving coin on your energy bills. Energy companies accuse more during "tiptop" hours – hours of the mean solar day when demand is the highest. By scheduling your energy use to "off peak" hours – early morning or late at dark – yous can assistance reduce load on the grid and lower your monthly free energy beak. On particularly hot days (over ninety degrees Fahrenheit), it is recommended you wait until after 6:00 p.chiliad. to cook, do laundry, or wash dishes.³

nine. Close doors & vents

If you lot're at home, endmost doors and A/C vents in rooms that are non in use can help make your cooling system more efficient. By not wasting energy cooling rooms that no i is in, it takes less energy (and money!) to continue you lot comfortable.

10. Employ your windows to absurd at dark & continue out rut during the day

If you alive in a climate where it cools off at night, turning off your cooling arrangement and opening the windows to let absurd air in (and hot air out!) is a nifty fashion to save energy and lower your free energy bill. During the twenty-four hours, keeping blinds fatigued and windows closed tin can assist continue the pesky heat from warming up your interior space, and making your cooling systems piece of work harder to go on the space comfortable.

Bonus: Participate in a voluntary straight load command program, if available

Straight load command programs are widely bachelor, and involve letting your electric visitor install a control switch to regulate free energy usage of air conditioners or heaters throughout the day in exchange for bill credits.

Bonus: Enquire most discounts you can receive

There are a number of twelvemonth-circular discounts bachelor to aid y'all save coin on your energy bill. Discounts for low-income households, persons on inability, or another form of express income may qualify you for discounts. Phone call your free energy provider to come across what is available in your area.

Source: https://neep.org/blog/10-ways-beat-heat-save-money-your-energy-bill-summer

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