Whether you admit it or not, with all the expenses you have in mind, no matter how big your salary is, you still want to save some extra bucks in one way or another. And the best place to start saving is right at your very home; on your power bills. Yes, your power bills.
All your appliances and electric gadget consume electricity and pile up to your ever-growing electric bills month after month contribute to your burden as a homeowner (or a tenant on a rented place). This calls for complete information on how to start lowering your home energy consumption while not depriving yourself with all the technology you have bought.
Let us start with how well-sealed your home is…
Ensuring that your house is totally sealed keeps your heating devices maximize its use, at the same time, save some energy. If you live on the southern part of the country, a perfectly sealed home keeps the temperature of your house maintained. This will also maximize the power of your air conditioning system.
To do this, keep your window, sills, doorframes, and joints tight. Apply sealant on these places so that the air from the outside does not mix with the air on the inside. Whether you want to heat up or cool down your home, properly sealed house will keep your heater or air conditioning system in its best functions. You surely don’t want the warm or cold air go in and out of your home. This will consume more energy than it should be.
Heat loss can also occur on windows. To prevent this, use plastic window cover. Plastics are best material to insulate and keep the heat of your home inside.
A free flowing heating vents and air grills will maximize the flow of heat in your home. Keep interference such as rugs, furniture and drapes away from them.
On moveable sections of windows and doors, you may want to use weatherstripping. Weatherstrips are rubber materials that seal the movable object from its non-moveable object. This will go on garage doors, exterior doors, operable windows, and door of attic.
Then, proceed on the blinds and drapes…
If you want to keep your home warm during cold weather, choose drapes that would cover the windows entirely. If it is sunny, open the drapes let the sun’s heat insulate your home. In this way, you save a lot of money on heating system.
The thermostat…
You can lower down your thermostat while you are away and while you are asleep. A centigrade lower equals to 2% saved energy. Again, you may want to turn the heating down if you are not around.
Then the laundry and dishwashing…
You should know this: You can save as much as 85 to 90% when you turn the dial of your laundry to cold. Heating the water will consume a lot of energy. Also, you can save a lot when you wash full load. One last thing: a front loading washing machine saves you 50% on water and 50% on energy.
Dishwashers consume the same energy regardless of wash loads. Therefore, it would be much energy efficient if you load your dishwasher full.
Go to the basement…
Most heat is lost when your basement has leaks and drafts on the walls. Make sure you seal these places so that you can conserve a lot of heat and energy. You may also add insulation in your basement to ensure that the heat is conserved.
One good way to know if your basement has leaks or draft is to look for spider webs. When there are web, there are leaks.
Time to go to the garage…
Do not turn on the heating system at your garage full time. Whether you stay at your garage often or not, you can always heat it up minutes before you get in there. You can save a lot of energy if you do this. Remember: use your garage heating system only if necessary.
And finally… you electronic devices.
Whether it is your tv, stereo, lights, or any other devices that use electricity, make sure that you turn them off when not in use.
Great post, thank you so much for sharing.