It’s never fun opening your electric bill each month, especially when the news is usually… shocking. With energy costs on the rise, now’s a great time to start developing better energy-usage habits in order to save money.
Quick and Easy Electrical Efficiency Tips
Energy efficiency doesn’t have to cost a ton upfront: you can save a bundle of energy just by making a few small investments and changing the way you do a few things. Here are four ways to improve your energy efficiency in your own home.
Use a Programmable Thermostat
Your heater and air conditioner are the two largest energy consumers in your home, and nothing else really even comes close. So if you’re looking for a way to cut back on the amount you’re spending each month, this is a good place to start. One of the cheapest and most valuable investments you can make in your system is a programmable thermostat, which can turn itself on and off in order to self-manage and reach your desired comfort level while using less energy, all for usually around $100 to $200.
Switch to LED Bulbs
The lighting in your home is approximately 10 percent of your energy consumption, which means making better decisions could lead to substantial savings. The best decision you could make: switch over to LED bulbs, which use a mere fraction of the energy a regular incandescent lightbulb consumes while carrying a price tag that’s just slightly above what a regular bulb costs.
Unplug Devices
Just because you turn something off doesn’t mean it isn’t using any electricity. Energy leeches like your computer, your cable box, battery chargers, and other electronics will still continue to drain energy while they’re not in use. The only way to truly turn these things off is to pull the plug completely. If you’re not using it, pull the plug. This is also a good habit to be in as it reduces the risk of a short or spark causing a fire.
Turn Down Your Hot Water Heater
Do you love piping hot showers? If you do, you probably don’t love your energy bills. Your hot water heater uses a lot of electricity to keep the water in the tank at a certain temperature, and the higher the temperature, the more energy it needs to use. Turning your water heater down to a more reasonable level (usually around 120 degrees) could save you a bundle of money each year, and you may not even notice the difference if you adjust your shower temperatures right.
Need an electrical repair? Call the Marietta electricians at Lightning Bug Electric today at (404) 471-3847!