Save Energy at Home – Every month, the average American spends well over $100 on their energy bill. While energy and electricity is definitely something worth spending money on, many people are paying more than they’d like.
Sure, the amount you spend on energy will often depend on which of the available energy plans you go with, but it also depends on how much you use.
As a result, if you can save energy at home, you will reduce your costs every month, often by a lot.
Not only that, but saving energy is also a good thing to do for the environment. But how can you go about saving energy at home? Well, if that’s what you’re wondering, you’ve come to the right place.
Read on to learn some of the best ways to go about saving energy at home.
Change to Efficient Bulbs
One of the easiest changes to make is to switch to efficient light bulbs around the home.
Most of us have numerous lights on for many hours a day, and all of this time can add up to some relatively high costs. If you are using older bulbs, you are likely wasting a lot more energy than you need.
There are several different benefits of using LED bulbs over traditional incandescent bulbs. They will last much longer, use less energy, are generally safer and can come in many different colors and levels of brightness.
Thankfully, these LED bulbs generally aren’t more than a couple of dollars at the store, so a huge investment isn’t required to change every bulb in your home.
Use a Programmable Thermostat
The heating and cooling efforts in your home can be another major hog of energy. Running the furnace and air conditioner can take a lot of resources, and we often run them longer than we need.
The main reason for this is we will turn them on when we need them, but then forget to turn them off.
Instead of handling everything manually, why not consider installing and using a programmable thermostat? These are quite affordable, and can bring you significant cost savings thanks to much less wasted energy.
You can simply set these thermostats to automatically heat or cool your home at specific times and to specific temperatures..
This eliminates the risk of forgetting to turn off your furnace or A/C, and some programmable thermostats can even learn your preferences over time.
Also, in a similar vein, be sure to check your home for any leaks or cracks in the walls or foundation. These can let the air in and out, which can reduce the effectiveness of your heating and cooling.
Be More Mindful of Your Usage
Last, but certainly not least, another great way to save energy is be more mindful of your usage. Many of us use lights, appliances, our computer and other equipment without much thought.
Leaving these things on and running all day long will waste a lot of energy and end up costing you a lot of money.
Throughout your day, make a conscious effort to check the lights around the home and make sure they’re turned off when you don’t need them on.
Make sure everything is turned off before bed and before you head off to work, as well. Also, use natural light when you can and consider switching to more efficient appliances, if at all possible.
We hope that this article has proven useful in your journey to save more energy at home. It can take some lifestyle changes, and maybe a little sacrifice, but it is well worth it.