To reduce energy usage in your home, you don’t need to buy energy-efficient products. There are many opportunities to save money on your energy bills that cost little to nothing. When you’re smart with energy, you’ll also reduce your carbon footprint and help reduce climate change.
Change Your Day-to-Day Behaviors
You can conserve a lot of energy by making small changes to your daily behavior. Turn off the lights whenever you leave a room. Unplug electronics when they’re not being used, as even when they’re not in use they draw power. Turn down the temperature of your house in the winter, and let it get warmer in the summer.
Replace Your Light Bulbs
If you still have incandescent bulbs, you’re spending more on electricity than you need to. Incandescent bulbs produce more heat than they do light. By replacing them with LEDs, you’ll reduce the cost of lighting your home by 25% to 80%. LEDs also last three to 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs do.
Install a Programmable or Smart Thermostat
You can use a programmable thermostat to set a schedule for when your home is heated or cooled. This allows you to automatically reduce heating or cooling when your family is gone for the day.
A smart thermostat takes this a step further by using artificial intelligence to heat and cool your house. The thermostat will know when you’re home or away and change the temperature accordingly. You can save over $180 a year by switching to a smart thermostat.
Schedule HVAC Maintenance
You can conserve a lot of energy by keeping your HVAC system well-maintained. Wear and tear reduces its energy efficiency. HVAC maintenance reduces wear and tear and gives a technician an opportunity to spot small issues when they’re easily fixed.
Faught Service Company in Austin, TX, offers maintenance for all HVAC systems. We have a maintenance plan that includes us coming to your residence twice a year. We’ll make sure your HVAC system is operating at peak performance and conduct a safety inspection as well.
Appliances
When you need a new appliance, buy one that’s ENERGY STAR-certified. These appliances use far less energy than older conventional appliances. While they’re a little more expensive, they consume 10% to 25% less energy than conventional models.
How you use your appliances can conserve energy, too. Only run your dishwasher and clothes washer when they’re full. You can use cold water in both and get the same results as hot water. Don’t open the oven door when cooking, as it drops the heat inside it by 25 degrees. Keep your refrigerator full to help it work less.
Weatherize Your Home
Your house probably isn’t as tightly sealed as it could be, which means conditioned air leaks out. Seal air leaks with silicone, such as around doors, windows, and vents. You can apply weather strips where moving and stationary parts interact, such as on windows you open. Put weather strips on your attic entryway, too.
Insulate Your Attic
Having enough insulation keeps conditioned air in the living space of your home. Insulation is measured by its heat resistance, or R-value. Different regions of the country have recommended R-values depending on the local climate.
Water Heater
Heating water and keeping it hot consumes a lot of energy. You should turn down your water heater to 115 degrees so that it’s hot but not scalding. Another way to save energy is to wrap an insulation blanket around it. Take shorter showers and use less hot water in general.
Upgrade Your HVAC System
An old HVAC system may cost you a lot more money than you realize. New high-efficiency gas furnaces are far more efficient than a conventional heater from 10 years ago. Air conditioners have also gotten much more efficient in recent years.
You can switch to a heat pump to heat and cool your house. They only use electricity to power internal parts, such as a fan and condenser. This is far more efficient than furnaces and air conditioners, which turn electricity and gas into hot or cool air.
Faught Service Company is a full-service HVAC company. We repair, replace, and tune-up heating and cooling systems. You can also depend on us for insulation, duct sealing, air filtration and purification, and energy conservation services. You may even qualify for rebates when you make your home more energy-efficient. Call us today to find out more.
