With colder weather and shorter days, expect your monthly energy bills to start rising. It can be easy to rack up costs in your home without even realizing it. Knowing how to maintain and control your energy will help lower costs while also improving the health of your home. Here are four energy saving tips you can do yourself or with the help of a qualified professional.
Energy Saving Tips #1. Seal air leaks
The first step to sealing air leaks in your home is to find the leaks. Most air leaks come from windows or doors that are not sealed properly. An easy DIY way to solve this issue is simply by adding weatherstripping around doors. You can also try caulking the connections between windows and walls to help seal air leaks and reduce heat loss.
Energy Saving Tips #2. Adjust your thermostat
Lowering your home’s thermostat is a quick and easy way to save energy. When you leave your home or are asleep at night, try turning your thermostat down by 10 degrees and then turning it back up when you get home or in the morning. If you have a smart thermostat, you can even go as far as to schedule heating times around when you’ll actually be home. This can save you around 10% of your heating bill.
Energy Saving Tips #3. Inspect insulation
Check the insulation in your home from your basement, attic, ceilings and floors. Proper insulation will help reduce costs by keeping your home energy efficient. The best way to check your insulation is to hire a professional to examine the type of insulation your home has, what rooms are insulated, and the R-value (thermal resistance) of the insulation.
Energy Saving Tips #4. Heating and energy system maintenance
Maintaining your home’s heating is crucial to keeping an efficient system. This can mean checking your thermostat connections to replacing your furnace filter at the start of the heating season.
It’s beneficial to both you and your home to hire someone to complete this inspection for you. An HVAC professional will have the required knowledge to perform all tests and inspections thoroughly to ensure that your energy is efficient throughout your home.
Need to speak to an expert about your energy bills, or have a question about your HVAC system? Contact us here!