Are you tired of spending an absurd amount of money on your utilities every month? If so, you’re not alone. Fortunately, you don’t have to continue spending so much money on your utility bill. Here a few easy ways to see an immediate reduction in your utilities.
Programmable Thermostat
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If you’re serious about reducing your utility bill, the first step is to limit when you’re heating the home. If you have an old thermostat, odds are, you’re paying a lot of money to keep your home warm when it’s empty. A good way to cut that pointless spending is to purchase a programmable thermostat.
Set it to have the furnace off when no one is home or at night when everyone is asleep, and then program it to turn on before you come back home or before you wake up in the morning. That way, your home will still be warm, but you won’t have wasted a couple hundred dollars a year for the hours you weren’t there.
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Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs
It’s a fact that energy-saving light bulbs cost more than their generic counterparts. However, that upfront cost pays off in the long run. Using energy-efficient light bulbs could cut your utility bill by as much 20%, which means that after two or three months you’ll definitely save as much on your utility bill as the light bulbs cost, and the rest of the savings add up to more money in your wallet.
Appropriately-Sized HVAC Unit
One of the most important things is to make sure your HVAC or furnace is the right size for your home. A lot of people end up losing money because their unit is either too big or too small, and both of these will make a dent in your bill.
Having a unit that’s too big for your house will cause a lot of wear and tear on the unit, so you’ll end up paying even more money for maintenance, on top of the cost of the unit itself. It will also cause a lot of temperature fluctuations, making you uncomfortable. In the end, it won’t be at all cost-effective.
If you have a unit that’s too small for you house, though, it won’t be able to do its job. Parts of your house won’t be heated as much as others are, and the unit will end up pushing itself harder to keep your house warm, which will impact your bill.
Ceiling Fans
It might seem a little odd to use fans in the winter, but if you reverse the blades, rotating them downward, they’ll help circulate warm air throughout your house. Hot air rises, and when the weather is warm, you want that hot air out of your house—and your fans can push that hot air out. But in the winter, you want that hot air back down, and by reversing the blades, your fan pushes that hot air down to the living area, warming your home.
Repaired Roof
One of the ways hot air escapes your home is through the roof. To make sure this doesn’t happen, you want to check your roof for any missing or damaged shingles. Then, you’ll want to make sure it’s sealed and well-insulated. Whether you live in Boston or Calgary, residential roofing experts, like those at United Roofing Calgary, can help you keep your roof both in good repair and your home well-insulated, which will have reduce your utility bill.
Off-Peak Hours
Every utility company has peak hours during which they charge a premium price for power use. Figure out what those times are (they’re often the afternoon/evening hours), and make an effort not to use your appliances during those times. Change your schedule or routine so you end up running the dishwasher or doing the laundry during off-peak times. That alone will save you a lot of money.
Figuring out how to save money on your utility bill isn’t rocket science. It can actually be a pretty easy process. By following these tips, you’ll be sure to see a difference in your next bill.
