Being comfortable in your home is a top priority, but so is accomplishing savings. There are some upfront investments you may need to make to improve comfort and achieve long-term savings. Then, with a few other free or inexpensive tips, you can lower your electricity bill without forfeiting home comfort.
- Make energy-saving investments. Install a whole house fan, window awnings, a new air conditioner and/or attic insulation. Also seal your ducts, replace your old refrigerator, and have Energy Star qualified windows put in. These are large investments, but they provide meaningful savings in the long term.
- Eliminate wasted energy. When you leave a room, turn off the lights. When you’re done with an appliance or piece of equipment, turn it off. Unplug electronics that will leech energy despite being switched off. Turn off computers, monitors and printers at the power strip.
- Run your appliances wisely. Use cold water in your washing machine. Line-dry your clothes whenever possible. When it’s not possible, do full batches of laundry back-to-back so your dryer can prevent cooling and reheating between batches. Run your dishwasher only when it’s completely full, but don’t overload it either.
- Turn up your thermostat. 78 degrees may seem a bit warm, but if you have a ceiling or portable fan to move the air around, it will feel much cooler without costing as much. When you’re away from home, turn up the thermostat to 85 degrees. A programmable thermostat makes this easy without sacrificing home comfort.
- Utilize modern conveniences. The microwave lets you cook food fast while consuming about two-thirds less electricity than the stove and not overheating your home.
With a combination of these energy-saving tricks, you have the potential to achieve a huge difference in the amount of energy your Fresno area home consumes this summer while maintaining your home comfort. For more information about the positive changes you can make in your home comfort, contact Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Donald P Dick Air Conditioning services the greater Fresno area in California. To get started, check out our website.