The holiday season may be a wonderful time of the year, but it can be hard on your energy bill. Even if you’re not the type to put up a dazzling holiday light display, you will still have to contend with heating a cooler home when the temperature outside drops.
In fact, heating systems are pushed to their limit before, during and after the holidays, and if you’re not careful, you will end up spending more money than you had planned just keeping warm this winter. Fortunately, energy savings aren’t as hard to come by during a cold winter as you might expect. All you need to do is follow these simple tips.
Tip #1: Turn Down Your Thermostat
This may sound counterintuitive if you want to stay warm this holiday season, but thermostats will save energy when they are turned down. You may be surprised at how high your thermostat needs to be to keep your home feeling comfortable, especially if you live someplace with milder winters. You can turn down your thermostat if you’re using your oven or if you have a lot of company over. Both of these scenarios will generate a lot of heat.
You can also open up the curtains on a sunny day and rely on the sun for extra warmth. Not only will you not need to turn up your thermostat on these days, but you might find that your home is uncomfortably warm if your heating system is turned up too high.
Tip #2: Schedule Regular HVAC Maintenance
Residential heating systems will work much more efficiently if they are well maintained. HVAC technicians can and should perform this seasonal maintenance at the end of every fall and the end of every winter, but it’s never too late to schedule this maintenance if you haven’t done so lately.
Tip #3: Unplug Your Electronics
There was a time when appliances would stop using energy as soon as they were switched off. While you can definitely turn off your TV, radio or computer, many modern electronics default to a stand-by mode when they aren’t being used. The computers, tablets, cell phones and game consoles may not be using that much energy when they are “off,” they still use some electricity. This can add up over time and give you a surprisingly large electric bill.
If you want these devices to truly be turned off and save energy, unplug them. As a rule, any device that has a glowing LED light is still using power, so unplug anything that you aren’t using.
These are just a few things you can do to save energy this holiday season. In general, the most important thing to remember is to watch closely at how you’re using your appliances and your thermostat. Turn down your thermostat if you don’t need it, and unplug any devices you aren’t using at the time. You may not think that amounts to much, but you’ll be surprised by your energy savings when it comes time to pay your bills.
