Whether it’s heating fuel in the dead of winter or air conditioning expenses during the dog days of summer, everyone complains about the high cost of home energy bills. But next time you hear someone griping about how much juice they’re using or how many dollars it’s costing them to be comfortable at home, ask them what energy-saving measures they’ve taken lately to control those costs. My guess is that they don’t even know what steps to take to save energy – much less which of those steps are the most affordable and easy to implement.
But you will, because here are five of the best money-savers around when it comes to household energy budgets.
#1
Caulking and weather stripping are cheap and easy to do yourself. But tons of climate-controlled air escapes homes through gaps around doors and windows, while unwanted cold or hot air seeps inside and forces you to reply more than necessary on your heating and cooling system. I can also tell you a fascinating trick that many professional contractors use to find out exactly where to focus your sealing and caulking efforts. Look for cobwebs around doors and windows. For some reason spiders prefer to spin webs in places where there is a flow of air or a draft. So if cobwebs have developed then it is likely that they are in areas where drafts exist and need to be filled and plugged.
#2
Get a great thermostat. Since the thermostat controls your heating and air conditioning, you need to invest in the type of thermostat that will help control your budget. In the past these devices were pretty basic, and they required that you constantly monitor them yourself and manually adjust them. But each time you change the setting on a thermostat it causes your HVAC system to work harder, less efficiently, and at a higher energy cost. But new computer controlled thermostats are “smart” and once you set them up they don’t have to be continuously tweaked. They are programmable, and state-of-the-art programmable thermostats can be purchased in a price range of $30-$100, depending on the model and its features. You may easily save that much money in just one month, and then your energy savings will continue – plus you won’t have to worry about fooling with thermostat settings.
#3
Do some routine maintenance and save yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars. One of the most common reasons for poor performance of heaters and air conditioners is also one of the easiest and cheapest to fix. If you have a dirty air filter in your system it can overwork the equipment, shortening its lifespan, raising your energy bills, and making it harder to be comfortable in your own home. Dirty filters can also contribute to illnesses like allergies and asthma, so then you wind up paying medical bills or missing days at work. But you can buy replacement air filters for most HVAC systems for just a few bucks apiece at any home improvement store. Replacing them is normally a do-it-yourself task that takes about three minutes, so if you aren’t changing your HVAC filters at least twice a year you may be throwing away money.
#4
Manage the gadgets in your house so they don’t become energy vampires that cost you cash.
All of those phone chargers, iPod chargers, kitchen appliances, computers, and other electronic gadgets in your home that have a light on them that glows are burning electricity. Think about it. If they were not burning electricity – juice that you are paying for to buy from your local utility company – then that little blue or green or red light would not come on, would it? None of those devices uses much electricity. But if you have dozens of them in your house it starts to add up, just like the pocket change in a piggy bank. It doesn’t seem like much but if you add a little bit every day then by the end of the year it winds up being a significant amount of cash. So unplug electrical gadgets – including charging stations- when they don’t need to be left on and you can quietly save on your energy bills.
#5
To make money you have to invest money. Yeah, if I change an old-fashioned light bulb in my home and replace it with one of those new high-tech fluorescent bulbs that last about 10 times as long, the new bulb will cost a few dollars more. But over time it will start to save me money. The same goes for energy efficient appliances like washers, dryers, and fridges with the Energy Star symbol and rating on them. So if you want to get serious about saving money, you may need to invest in an upgrade now and then. If your fridge is too old, for example, it will sap electricity. But if you invest in a new model you will save enough in a year or two to easily offset the cost of buying it. Plus you won’t be taxing the wiring in your home, which can lead to a house fire.
You can probably implement the majority of those “top five” in just one weekend, while spending a minimal amount of money and very little time. You’ll save enough from those small steps to be able to afford the more costly long-term solution of upgrading to more energy efficient major appliances that will keep putting money into your pockets for years to come. Leveraging small savings into bigger investments that pay off for the long haul is what planning for your financial future is all about, and saving money on utility bills gives you green in two ways. You get a smaller carbon footprint, plus you get the kind of green you take put in the bank.
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The Begging Line
Cut your energy bills in ways you probably never thought of with five easy tips.
