If you seem to be paying too much for energy in your Dayton area home, changing a few habits can help you lower your monthly bills. When it comes to conserving energy, small things can add up to big savings. Here are seven ways you can lower those high energy bills:
- Turn off the lights you’re not using, and swap out your incandescent lights for compact fluorescent lights, which use 75 percent less electricity and last six times longer.
- Turn down your thermostat. Keeping your home just five degrees cooler in the winter can result in up to 10 percent savings on your heating bill. A programmable thermostat is a good tool to keep your home comfortable and save considerably on energy costs.
- Use storm windows. Seal a good portion of air leaks with properly installed storm windows. Make sure they’re tightly closed before the onset of cold weather.
- Heating water for the home is typically the second or third largest use of home energy. Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees to save money on heating costs. Insulate the water pipes and tank on your unit for even more savings. Finally, take shorter showers and wash your clothes in cold water.
- Close off unused portions of your home. If you have rooms that are rarely used, close the registers in those rooms to lower the total square footage of space you’re heating. But beware: closing off more than 20 percent of your home can cause your furnace to overheat.
- Maintain your furnace and water heater. Annual maintenance will make both appliances perform more efficiently, as well as help you avoid expensive service calls. Make sure you change your furnace filter when it’s dirty to keep your furnace operating efficiently.
- Only operate your dishwasher and clothes washer when you have a full load. If you have a clothesline, try drying your clothes naturally, then pop them in the dryer for a few minutes to fluff them up.
For more expert advice about reducing your high energy bills, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc., proudly serving the Dayton area since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about lowering energy bills and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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