One of the unfortunate truths about the winter months is that homeowners tend to see a large rise in energy bills. This is a combined result of heating your home, staying indoors more often, and shorter days requiring more artificial lighting. Fortunately, there are many methods you can employ to drastically reduce your energy bills this upcoming winter season.
1. Use a Smart Thermostat
Probably one of the best ways to lower your energy bill during the winter is to invest in a smart thermostat. This device allows you to program in different temperature settings depending on the time of the day and the day of the week. Furthermore, newer machine learning models will monitor your real-time energy usage and make suggestions on how to be more eco-friendly with your heating system usage.
2. Let the Sun’s Heat In
One of the best ways to help reduce the need to run your heating system is to allow natural sunlight to penetrate your home. Open up your blinds and curtains, especially on the southernmost side of your home, to allow in as much direct sunlight as possible. Sunlight can heat a room’s temperature by 10 degrees or more. The best part about allowing sunlight into your home is that it’s completely free to use.
3. Use LED Lights
If you have any incandescent lights still in your home, it’s time to upgrade. LED lights are extremely affordable, operate 75% more efficiently, and last up to 25 times longer than incandescent lighting. It doesn’t matter if it’s an overhead ceiling light, lamp light, or any other light you may have in your home. You can upgrade the fixture itself or you can use LED light bulbs instead of the traditional incandescent ones.
4. Insulate Your Piping
During the winter months, the hot water coming from your water heater will drop more in temperature on its way to your plumbing fixtures. By default, this could have you turning up the thermostat on your water heater to compensate for the difference. To prevent increasing the thermostat temperature, opt for putting insulation on your exposed piping. Simple pipe sleeves are very easy to install and can make a significant difference when it comes to reducing heat loss in your hot water lines. You may even find that you can turn the thermostat down on your water heater after adding insulation to your water pipes.
5. Invest in Quality Insulation
Insulation plays a big role in the overall efficiency of your home. If your home lacks insulation or its insulation is not up to code standards for your area, you could be wasting excess energy. It’s best to opt for insulating your home with insulation that either meets or exceeds the R-value recommendation for your area. Furthermore, you should check the state of your insulation each year and add to it if you notice that it’s sinking down or missing in some areas. When you have appropriate insulation in your home, it can go a long way in increasing the efficiency of your heating system.
6. Schedule HVAC Maintenance Service
Another factor that can also increase the efficiency of your heating system is annual maintenance service. By having a professional technician come out to examine and service your system, you can ensure that all of its internal components are functioning at their peak level. When your heating system is operating efficiently, you can be assured that you’re not wasting unnecessary money on excess heating bills.
7. Properly Prepare Your Water Heater
As the weather gets colder outside, the demand for your water heater increases. Not only is the water coming in from the main water supply line colder, but your family is likely using more hot water than during the summer. To combat this increased demand, it’s best to have a plumber properly service your water heater. This will remove excess sediment and help ensure that your water heater is operating as efficiently as possible. Furthermore, it can be advantageous to invest in a water heater insulation jacket. This is a simple cover that goes over the water heater and allows it to retain more of its heat.
8. Seal Off Air Leaks
Air leaks can be one of the biggest efficiency killers for any home, especially during the winter months. These leaks allow cold air to seep into your home which can cause your heating system to continually run to bring your home back up to your desired temperature. It’s highly recommended that you take time to assess all your exterior walls for air leaks. They’re going to be most prominent around the frames of your doors and windows, as well as any outlets or light switches that are on those exterior walls. You can use foam insert pads, caulking, and even weatherstripping to seal up those unwanted air leaks.
9. Invest in ENERGY STAR Appliances
Appliances that are given ENERGY STAR certification have been proven to operate at a high-efficiency level. The more efficient an appliance is, the less money you’ll have to spend on powering it. If any of your appliances are getting up there in age, consider replacing them with a new ENERGY STAR-certified appliance. Furthermore, if you’re heating system is 10 years or older, consider investing in a new high-efficiency system that will produce the same amount of heat while using less energy.
10. Use Smart Power Strips
Smart power strips can be a great addition to any home that’s looking to reduce its energy consumption. Most people simply aren’t in the habit of plugging in and unplugging items regularly. Any electrical devices that you leave plugged into the wall even when they’re off can still draw phantom power.
Smart power strips enable you to set specific times for when you want the power to the devices plugged into it turned off. This will eliminate phantom draw and help to reduce your energy bills. Furthermore, smart power strips will give you in-depth insight into how much energy each device uses so you can make better-informed decisions regarding usage.
11. Use Ceiling Fans
If you don’t have ceiling fans in your home, it’s time to get some. You should have a ceiling fan in each main room of your home, including rooms like your bedrooms, living room, and even home office. During the winter months, you want to set these fans to be in reverse mode. This will allow them to transfer the hot air that rises to your ceiling outward and back down to the floor to be reused. This will allow you to remain comfortable in your rooms without having to turn up the temperature on your thermostat.
Expert HVAC Maintenance Service
Green Dot Heating & Air offers expert HVAC maintenance service for the Wilmington, NC area. We can help with all your electrical, air conditioning, heating, ductless mini-split, ductwork, indoor air quality, smart thermostat, and HVAC zoning needs. Book an appointment with one of our friendly technicians by calling our office today.
