When you’re in the midst of entertaining guests, decorating your home (on both the inside and outside) and doing a lot of holiday cooking, it’s totally understandable how your energy bills could end up being higher than they are any time of the year. However, just because that is a reality for many, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain things that you can do this year to avoid spending more than what is in your budget.
If you’d like some tips on how you can save on your home energy bills during the holidays, we have five helpful ones for you below:
Change your window treatments. If you happened to walk past one of your windows, felt a bit of a draft and you don’t have double-pane windows installed, it could be that there’s a crack or small hole around the sides of your windows. One way to fix it is by applying some caulking. Also, go to a local Target or Wal-Mart to purchase some thermal curtains. They come in a variety of styles and colors, they’re affordable and they’re specifically designed to keep cold air from coming into the rooms of your house.
Check your insulation. One of the reasons why we have insulation inside of our homes is to help protect us from outside temperatures. So, in order to make sure that you have the proper support that you need, go into your attic to make sure that your insulation appears light and fluffy (as opposed to hard and broken) and that it’s about 12″ in thickness. If it’s not, replace your insulation with sheep’s wool, cotton or aerogel.
Get a programmable thermostat. Definitely one of the best ways to save on energy costs is to get a programmable thermostat. That’s because it provides you with the ability to preset it to certain temperatures when you’re home and when you’re away so that you won’t waste any energy. Another tip is that when you are home, it’s best to keep your thermometer set to around 73 degrees. That way, you will not use up too much energy and your home will still remain warm in the process.
Purchase a tankless water heater and low-flow showerhead. If you’re wondering about what you can do in order to conserve more water, two great home additions is a tankless water heater and a low-flow showerhead. Both of these things combined can easily save you between 30-40 percent on energy costs each year.
Conduct an energy audit. Something else that can save you on energy costs is to conduct your own energy audit. That way you can see if any pipes are leaking water, if your furnace needs to be serviced or if some puron refrigerant should go into your heat and air unit. Although you could hire a professional energy auditor to come and inspect your home, there are actually websites that will walk you through the process of doing it yourself. Energy.gov is one of them. Just go to the site and put “DIY energy audit” in the search field.
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When used properly, a programmable thermostat with its four temperature settings can save about $180 a year in energy costs. Follow these Guidelines for Proper Use of Programmable Thermostats to maximize your savings.