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Fall Into Energy Savings

As scarves and jackets leave closets this fall, be ready to cut the chill and your energy bill with these seasonal tips.
 
ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE:  When you are home and awake, set your thermostat as low as is comfortable. When you are asleep or out of the house, turn your thermostat back 10° to 15° for eight hours and save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills. A programmable thermostat can make it easy to set back your temperature.

ADJUST BLINDS AND CURTAINS: Keep them open to let in sunlight during the day, and close at night to keep heat inside and protect from drafts.

REDUCE HOT WATER TEMPERATURES: Heating water accounts for 12 percent of the average home’s energy use. Set your water heater’s thermostat to 120° or lower—that’s usually sufficient for a household’s hot-water needs. Also, if you’ve had your water heater for more than 12 years, you might want to consider replacing it with a more energy-efficient model.

SEAL AND INSULATE: This is the best way to keep heat in and air out. Check your home’s weather stripping for air leaks around doors, windows, baseboards, and wherever pipes, wires and vents enter the house. Make sure the warm air you paid for won’t escape.

HAVE YOUR HEATING SYSTEM SERVICED by a certified contractor, and REPLACE FURNACE FILTERS at least once every three months. Clean filters once a month during the heating season to keep the system at peak performance.

MAKE ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING CHOICES: Now that you’ll be using your lights more, replace incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient LEDs. Decorate for the holidays with energy saving LED holiday lights.

FOR MORE ENERGY SAVING TIPS:
Visit www.stearnselectric.org. Under the resources menu you can download either our 101 Ways to Save Energy and Money Booklet or our Home Energy Savings Guide. In addition you can link to Touchstone Energy’s online Energy Savings Home Tour or download their Save Energy, Save Money Smart Phone App.