Tips to Control Your Home’s Energy Bill

By Alden Smith

This week, DIY was contacted by Edison Electrical Institute with timely advice for homeowners who see large utility bills as the results of scorching weather and air conditioners running full blast.   Research from the website Get Energy Active offers a lot of insight into energy usage and ways to save energy.  From the site, and from information provided by EEI, we give you tips on saving energy, and provide facts on utility companies.

Tips On Energy Usage

Although a lot of things related to saving energy are common sense items, many of them are overlooked.  EEI offers this advice:

• Raise your thermostat setting a few degrees in the summer and lower it a few in the winter (save up to 3 percent per degree on cooling/heating costs).
• Regularly clean or replace the filter in your air conditioner and furnace, and vacuum the coils underneath your refrigerator (save up to 15 percent on annual energy costs).
• Shut the door and vents in unused rooms (save up to 3 percent on heating and cooling costs).
• Lower the water heater’s temperature to 120 degrees F (save up to 10 percent on water heating costs; check temperature with a thermometer under a tap).
• Keep the curtains closed on hot afternoons (save 2 – 7 percent on cooling costs).
• Caulk and weather-strip around windows and doors (save 1 – 4 percent on heating/cooling costs).
• Reduce energy use when home is unoccupied (save 10 – 20 percent on annual energy costs).
• Dry clothes on a clothesline instead of in a clothes dryer (save 2 – 4 percent on energy costs).
• Use a microwave oven instead of a regular oven (saves up to 50 percent on cooking costs).
• Install compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in high-use fixtures (save up to 75 percent on lighting costs per fixture).  If on dimmers, make sure to use dimmable CFLs.

Dealing With Utility Companies

EEI suggests that you work in conjunction with your utility company for energy efficiency help.  It makes good sense to know what your utility company has to offer in terms of energy reduction and saving on the cost of energy in the process.  Many companies offer low or no-cost programs to help you make your home more energy efficient.  Some of the programs include:

• Online surveys to find out where you might be wasting electricity
• Financial incentives on energy-efficient appliances and home weatherization
• Payment plans that enable you to balance out your energy costs over a year
• Special assistance for families who need help paying their bills

Get Energy Active

The website getenergyactive.org has a lot to offer in terms of energy education.  One of the things I found especially useful on the site was an interactive module that allows you to explore all regions of your home to determine your carbon footprint.

We wish to thank Courtney Jenkins and Keith Voight of Edison Electric Institute for providing us with this timely information. 

Alden Smith is an award winning author and regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He writes on a variety of subjects, and excels in research.

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