With rising energy costs and a greater focus being greener, most homeowners are keen to reduce their energy bills. Research has shown that heating and cooling accounts for the largest percentage of energy bills, so if you want to see some serious savings, you need to look at how your home is heated and cooled. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that you need to boil in summer and freeze in winter. So, here we’ll explore how you can reduce your energy bills without losing any comfort.
Use a Smart Thermostat
One of the most convenient tools to lower energy usage is a smart thermostat. If you have a relatively new heating system, you may even have a smart thermostat already installed, but you won’t see savings unless you’re using it properly. A smart thermostat is designed to learn your preferences and can make adjustments according to your routines. These types of thermostat can even sense when no one is home, so your heating and cooling system is not operating unnecessarily. It can even make sure that the temperature is at your optimum level when you arrive home. Many smart thermostats are compatible with an app, so you if there is an unexpected change in your activities, such as working late, you can make adjustments to the timer from your smartphone or mobile device.
Heating System Upgrade
While this may be one of the most involved methods of lowering your energy bills, it is also one of the best ways to reduce electricity usage. Additionally, depending on the type of system, you may also minimize your environmental impact. For example, if your home is equipped with a traditional electric furnace, you’re likely to have enjoyed a relatively small upfront investment. Unfortunately, this is one of the most costly heating systems to operate. This means that you’ll be using far more energy in the long run and be faced with unnecessarily high electricity bills.
Fortunately, there are a number of ways that you can reduce your operating costs by upgrading your system. If you prefer electric furnaces, newer models will be more energy efficient. Even if your system is less than ten years old, the industry has made fantastic developments in energy efficiency, so you’re likely to find a new model uses a fraction of the electricity.
If you’re not set on electricity, there are other heating methods that can be explored. A professional HVAC technician can guide you through the options including geothermal, gas or even solar heating. While most of these methods will require more of an initial investment, you should be able to enjoy significantly lower heating bills in the years to come.
Use Your Curtains
Finally, you can reduce your cooling costs for no outlay, just by using your curtains. The summer sun can rapidly heat up any room, forcing your air conditioner to work harder. This can be mitigated by curtains, blinds or other window coverings. In addition to keeping your curtains closed when you’re at work during the day, if you close the curtains in the rooms with the sunniest exposure, you can stop your air conditioner from working overtime.
The same principle can be applied in winter. Open up the curtains to allow the winter sun to enter your home. This will warm the room by a degree or two, which means that your heating won’t have to work as hard.