Start saving on your power bills today. All your appliances and electric gadgets consume electricity and pile on to your ever-growing electric bills month after month. This calls for complete information on how to start lowering your home energy consumption.
Start with a well-sealed home…
Ensuring that your house is well-sealed for winter and summer keeps your keeps your energy efficiency in check. If you live in the southern part of the country, a perfectly sealed home keeps the temperature of your house maintained. This will also maximize the power of your air conditioning system. To do this, keep your windows, sills, door frames, and joints sealed. Apply sealant on these places so that the air from the outside does not mix with the air on the inside. Whether you want to heat up or cool down your home, a properly sealed house will keep your heater or air conditioning system functioning at its best.
To prevent a loss of heat or heat entry, use plastic window covers. Plastics are the best material to insulate and keep the heat in. A free flowing heating vent and air grills will maximize the flow of heat in your home. Keep rugs, furniture and drapes away from vents.
On moveable sections of windows and doors, you may want to use weatherstripping. Weatherstrips are a rubber material that seals the movable object from its non-moveable object. This will go on garage doors, exterior doors, operable windows, and the door of the attic.
Then, proceed on to the blinds and drapes…
If you want to keep your home warm during cold weather, choose drapes that would cover the windows entirely. If it is sunny, open the drapes let the sun’s heat insulate your home. In this way, you save a lot of money on heating system.
The thermostat…
You can lower down your thermostat while you are away and while you are asleep. A centigrade lower equals to 2% saved energy. Again, you may want to turn the heating down if you are not around.
Then the laundry and dishwashing…
You can save as much as 90% when you turn the dial of your laundry to cold. Heating the water will consume a lot of energy. Also, you can save a lot when you wash a full load. A front loading washing machine saves you 50% on water and 50% on energy. Dishwashers consume the same energy regardless of wash loads. It is much more energy efficient if you load your dishwasher full.
Go to the basement…
Most heat is lost when your basement has drafts. Make sure you seal these places so that you can conserve a lot of heat and energy. You may also add insulation in your basement to ensure that the heat is conserved. One good way to know if your basement has leaks or a draft is to look for spider webs. Where there are webs, there are leaks.
Time to go to the garage…
Do not turn on the heating system in your garage full time. Whether you stay in your garage often or not, you can always heat it up minutes before you go in. You can save a lot of energy if you do this. Remember to use your garage heating system only if necessary.
And finally… your electronic devices.
Whether it is your tv, stereo, lights, or any other devices that use electricity, make sure that you turn them off when not in use.