Brrrrrrr! The weather’s getting colder (some cities have already seen snow!) and that means that many of us will soon be seeing a big spike on our monthly electricity bills. But it doesn’t have to be that way – there are plenty of simple ways to minimize the amount of energy needed to heat your home and save a bundle of cash doing it. From properly insulating your house to simply dressing for the season, check out our 10 easy tips to cut your home’s energy use – you’ll thank us when you receive your next electricity bill!
Get an energy monitoring device/power strip to understand where you are using the most energy
It’s hard to cut down on your energy when you don’t even know how much you use. That’s why we recommend getting an energy-monitoring device like this Kill-a-Watt that will allow you to visualize and quantify how much electricity you’re actually consuming. At about $20, this smart little device can save you hundreds – a nice return on investment if you ask us.
Get a smart power strip and/or start to unplug electronics that aren’t in use
Just because you aren’t using a charger, television or computer doesn’t mean it isn’t still sucking up electricity (and costing you money). If you saw that your faucet kept running water even though you’d turned it off, you would probably do something about it and your electrical outlets should be no different. One way to deal with the problem is to simply unplug your electronics when they aren’t in use, but if that seems cumbersome, you can get an eco powerstrip which automatically cuts off the supply of electricity to computers and other gadgets when they are off.
These are all great suggestions. The most important one is to get the home energy audit. This study will help you to determine the problem areas in your home so you can focus your improvements there. And depending on your location, these audits may be free through your utility who may also be able to provide you with information for incentives on any of the necessary upgrades.
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If you heat your home with electricity then buying LEDs is a waste of money.
LEDs may use 80% less energy, but what are those 80% converted to when using incandescent light bubs? How about heat?
So while you don’t decrease your energy consumption, you still pay a lot for those new shiny LED bulbs.
Remember we are talking about winter here.
Good advice and inspiration — but don’t forget another of the big ones: paint your house the right colours for energy conservation. A dark surface helps conserve heat while a light one reflects sunlight and helps keep the house cooler. Since it’s not practical to repaint or change your roofing every season, go with the one that makes the most difference in your climate.
What is the mechanism of keeping a room warm at night by closing the blinds? Isn’t most of the heat in the form or infrared radiation, which glass is opaque to?
We’re missing a link to the Home Depot shopping cart?
My savings bulbs have ben lasting 2-4 years before starting the annoying blinking thing. Plastic your windows. Use old fashioned timers. Dress warmer. If you rent.
If you own your home, seal your windows, triple glazing does wonders. They still make storm windows. Beef up your insulation and keep the heating on timers and use localized heaters.
I love the power strip idea! I have all these tools that could be off for over 12 hours a day. What a great way to save energy.
Rubbish Works -Seattle
What a great post. Since living in a small apartment I can concur, while cooking the apartment warms up very well. Otherwise, I dress in warm clothing.
The eco power strip and the LED bulb are two items which stand out the most for me. I’m looking to invest in the ecostrip to see the difference in my electrical bill. I have a lot of technology in my home lol. Although the LED bulb is expensive I wouldn’t mind taking time to build up an inventory on eco bulbs.
Great tips… this was very helpful! I definitely need to invest in one of those smart power strips. It can really save you a bundle if you unplug electronics that aren’t in use… but knowing me, I probably wouldn’t remember to do that everyday.
Great energy saving tips! Thanks!
All great tips! For all ConEd customers, I believe they offer free timers for those with central cooling and heating systems. Give them a call and find out! Time your heat/air to turn on an hour or so before you get home so you don’t have to keep it on all day!
Thanks for the tip Bridgette!
Great tips! I wear sweaters a lot to keep the thermostat down.
I’m all for saving money and energy, but it always seems so daunting! Great tips I can definitely make some upgrades and adjustments this winter!
More pumpkin spice muffins, super fuzzy socks & holiday sweaters, less firing up the furnace!
great tips to use for what’s sure to be a very cold winter. i’m especially a fan of the baking tip!
It’s great to see tips that even people renting apartments can use to cut their energy bill!
Totally agree with Dan, an energy audit will definitely keep you from covering up construction mistakes. For instance if you don’t air seal an attic before insulating then you might be wasting your time and money with insulation and heating.
I much prefer bundling up in sweaters and blankets than cranking up the heat. Winter is the season for snuggling, not sweating!
It’s so tempting to hang out in shorts with the heat on – thanks for reminding me it’s not worth it!
I will definitely be hanging out in the kitchen and baking as much as possible this winter!
This came just in time! I just turned my heat on and was dreading the coming bills! Thanks!
These tips definitely save a lot, some of them are even applicable with other seasons. LEDs are large savers. It may seem like a large investment at first, but it’s really an investment.
Juan Miguel Ruiz (Going Green)
http://www.GreenJoyment.com
the green fibre insulation is fairly cheap and you can usually get the blowing machine for free when you buy the insulation from the big box stores.