Save Money on your Energy Bill
As winter weather approaches, so does the jump in your electricity bill, but there are many ways to get ahead of the surge in your energy use. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Californians consume an average of 554 kWh per month, with an average monthly electricity bill of $101.49, yet using about 33% less electricity at home than do customers in the rest of the country (May 2019).
Although California's average residential electricity use is among the lowest in the nation, there are plenty of low-cost tips to help shave off those costs. Tweaking your usage can lower your bills as much as 20-25%, so consider these top tips to save money on your electricity bill and invest in your house when the chill arrives.
Keep on top of your settings:
Set your thermostat to 68 degrees Fahrenheit or lower if possible. This can save you up to 5% energy use for each degree above 68 F.
Set your thermostat to 56 F when you’re asleep or leave the house. You can save approximately 10% on your bill annually by turning your thermostat down 10 degrees or more for 8 hours.
Adjust the temperature on your water heater. Lowering the default temperature to 120 degrees can reduce your water heating costs by up to 10%. Leaving town for a few days? Turn your water heater to the lowest setting to conserve energy usage.
Turn down your heater when using your fireplace, and don’t forget to close the damper to block the flow of cold air down your chimney.
Clean the coils in your refrigerator and don’t set the temperature too low. Keep the refrigerator between 38 F and 42 F and the freezer between zero and 5 F. Keep your food fresh without making your fridge and freezer do more work than it needs to.
Increase the energy efficiency of your refrigerator by defrosting your freezer when ice builds up to more than one-quarter of an inch.
Fill in the gaps:
Look for drafts around windows and apply a silicone or acrylic caulk around drafty door frames and windows to prevent cold air from entering your home. Caulking is an inexpensive solution and will adhere well and remain flexible for years.
Wrap a blanket or insulating jacket around older water heaters to minimize heat loss, making sure to leave the air intake vent uncovered.
Air leaks in your attic space can make a real dent in your energy use, but plugging those heat loss spots can be the quickest and cheapest way to save money. This is dusty, dirty work, and might be an area where you want to reach out to a local pro to get this done efficiently and save you some hassle! Sealing and properly insulating attics and floors may save up to 10% of your annual energy costs.
Power and lighting:
Lights and electronics account for roughly 11% of home energy usage. Start saving by swapping out lightbulbs with compact fluorescent or LED bulbs that bear the Energy Star label.
Turn off and unplug unused televisions, game boxes, computers, phone chargers, coffee makers and other devices.
Use dimmer switches or timers on your lights to reduce wattage and save energy. These inexpensive switches provide energy savings when lights are used at a reduced level, and also increase the service life of lightbulbs.
Use smart power strips: Some electronic gadgets never truly power off; instead, they sit in standby mode using a trickle of power that can add up over devices and time. These are usually — but not exclusively — items with a remote control because the remote sensor needs power while waiting for your input. Plug these electronics into a smart power strip, which cuts off the current when the devices aren’t in use.
Make these Basics Part of your Routine:
Take shorter showers to reduce water-heating costs. Challenge your family to take 5-minute showers with a 5-minute playlist. Even if you trim two minutes off your shower time you cut your water usage by five gallons
Use cold water to wash full loads of laundry and cut your energy usage per-load by at least half. 90 percent of the energy used by clothes washers goes to water heating.
Take advantage of built-up heat in your clothes dryer and use your dryer for consecutive loads.
Clean the lint trap in the clothes dryer before starting a load. Add a tennis ball or a clean, dry towel to improve air circulation and reduce drying time.
Run cold water when using your garbage disposal. Cold water also solidifies grease, moving it more easily through the disposal and pipes.
Turn off hot water when not needed while brushing teeth, shaving or doing dishes.
Use the self-cleaning oven feature immediately after you use the oven in order to take advantage of pre-existing heat.
Operate your dishwasher with full loads, and air-dry dishes on the energy saver setting. If the manufacturer's instructions permit, open the dishwasher door at the end of the last rinse cycle, rather than using the drying cycle.
Close your curtains, blinds and shades to keep warm air from escaping at night and when you’re not at home to prevent warm air from escaping.
Invest in the value of your home - plan now for tomorrow:
Get a local pro to check your central heating and cooling duct system for leaks. Sealing and insulating your air ducts can improve the efficiency of your system and cut costs.
Decrease warm air loss in your walls by insulating the spaces between the walls with foam. Fill the gaps by spraying foam insulation into holes drilled in the wall.
Install door sweeps on the garage door and other exterior doors to seal the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold. The door sweep prevents cold air from coming in and warm air from escaping your home.
Add weatherstripping on doors to prevent heat loss by covering the entire door jamb. Make sure it’s thick enough to press tightly between the door and door jamb when closing the door.
Install energy-saving showerheads, faucets or flow restrictors to cut back on water use and reduce the energy needed to heat water while maintaining strong water pressure. An efficient showerhead can reduce water usage by 2,700 gallons per year.
As you can see, there’s plenty you can do now to make some serious savings on your energy bill. Most of these are easy to do now before winter arrives, others may require a Pro to execute. If you’ve been lax about turning down the thermostat, leaving lights on or washing your clothes in hot water, now’s the time to turn over a new leaf and get into some good habits. Don’t drain your wallet any longer, ditch those bad habits and start saving money. Don’t forget to ask your utility about discounted rates - it is possible to get cheaper rates during certain hours in the day, making laundry for example 5-25% less expensive during off-peak times.
The winter chill bill can provide some unpleasant surprises. A solid maintenance checklist, small upgrades and smart choices now can build longer-lasting habits and increase savings throughout the year.