There are two times of the year when energy usage can get scary: summer and winter. It is hard to predict how hot or cold these seasons will be, and they can usually hit us pretty hard in the pocket book. That is why we look for as many ways as we can to shave off our energy costs. Direct Energy is trying to help find ways for customers to cut their energy costs, too. Below are five of their tips for saving money and making your home “smarter”.
5 Bright Ideas for Saving Energy
Smart Thermostat
Install a smart thermostat, such as the Nest Learning Thermostat. Smart thermostats offer you climate control, the convenience of programming away from home, and more. Check out the link above to enter their giveaway for 5 Nest Learning Thermostats!
Energy Efficient Lightbulbs
Your living room typically has multiple active light sources available. Make sure your lighting is energy efficient by switching traditional bulbs to CFLs or LEDs. We’ve actually been using more efficient lighting for quite some time. In the beginning, we didn’t really like the way they lit the house, but these efficient bulb have come a long way!
Light Dimmers
Installing light dimmers can save cut your electricity use 40% over time and make your lightbulbs last 20 times longer. This is one that I’d love to do! We have lights on around the clock, but we don’t need the full brightness of the lights. It would be nice to be able to turn them on to a lower level.
Energy Efficient Appliances
Replace your old, inefficient appliances with new, efficient, Energy Star® appliances. Old appliances tend to run inefficiently. There is no way I could replace all of my appliances at one time to make them energy efficient, but I do choose energy efficient ones as the appliance needs to be replaced. It’s amazing how more efficient the new window air conditioners are than the older ones!
Low Flow Shower heads
Replace the shower head in your bathroom(s) with low flow showerheads. These shower heads regulate the flow of water, assuring you a more efficient shower. You may be wondering where this will save you on energy, but if you have a teenage daughter like mine, a low flow shower head will save on the energy required to heat ALL that hot water that many teenage daughters use.
Check out more tips and information on the Direct Energy website, and don’t forget to enter their giveaway. What are your favorite ways to save on energy costs?
I love this post, these are all great ideas. We need to get more up to date appliances here some day! One step at a time. I do believe this list is easy for most of us to do, thanks for making it a simple list for us to try to save energy!
I am trying to lower my electric bill, these are good tips, thanks!