Working with homeowners every day, and being homeowners ourselves, we know how frustrating it can be to open your monthly utility bill and see a number much higher than you’d like to pay. Since you can’t exactly live in Virginia without air conditioning and hot water, you can’t just decide to not use those utilities anymore. So what’s a homeowner to do?
The bright side is that there are some things you can do to help lower your utility costs and make getting your bills each month slightly less upsetting.
Lower Your Utility Bills with These Simple Tips
Check Your Air Vents
Take a walk around your house and look at your vents — you might be surprised to find that some of them are entirely closed. This forces your cooling system to work harder to push cold air throughout your house, spiking your energy costs in the process.
Keep your vents open and clear so air can flow through them easily.
Utilize Your Fans
While standing and ceiling fans don’t actually cool air, they do help spread it around. The sooner cold air circulates through your home, the sooner your AC can stop running and using energy — so get those fans going!
Pro Tip: Make sure your ceiling fans are spinning counter-clockwise to create a downdraft.
Change Your Laundry Habits
Think about how often you do laundry. Now think about how much water is heated so you can wash those clothes in hot water. Simply making the switch to washing your clothes in cold water instead of hot can equal big energy savings.
Pro Tip: Once your clothes are washed, don’t stuff them in the dryer. Leave about 25% of your unit empty so air has room to get around and you don’t have to run the dryer twice.
Wrap Your Water Heater
No, we don’t mean like a Christmas present. Heat can escape your tank, forcing your unit to work harder and wasting energy in the process. Invest in an insulated blanket and wrap it around your water heater tank to keep heat where it’s supposed to be.
Seal Up Cracks
Your AC can pump all the cold air in the world through your home, but if that air is escaping through cracks in your windows and doors, it won’t be doing any good. Find all the drafty cracks around your windows, doors, and floor, and seal them with caulk or weatherstripping so conditioned air stays inside your home and you stop wasting energy and money.
Switch Your Lightbulbs
Traditional halogen bulbs can use 10 times more energy than newer, more environmentally-friendly ones. Swap out those bulbs for LED bulbs. They use much less energy and last a lot longer so you won’t have to replace them often.
Lower Your Water Heater’s Temperature
Many water heaters are automatically set to warm water to 140℉, but most homes don’t need their water heater set past 120℉. Carefully lower your unit’s thermostat, and watch the difference it makes.
Start Using Power Strips
All of your kids’ video game consoles and your big flat-screen TV suck a lot of energy from your home, even when you aren’t using them. The easiest way to solve this problem is to plug all of those gadgets into a power strip that actually turns off with the flip of a switch.
Adjust Your Thermostat
You’d be surprised by how big of a difference adjusting your thermostat can make on your energy bills. Rather than keeping your thermostat super cold during the summer and hot during the winter, adjust it a few degrees closer to the outside temperature.
For example, in the summer, keep it set to around 76℉. In the winter, set it to closer to 68℉. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to be even closer to the outside temperature when you sleep for more savings!
Lower Your Utility Bills with the Help of Air Treatment Heating & Cooling
When it comes to having an efficient cooling system and water heater, trust the experts at Air Treatment Heating & Cooling. We’ve been serving Fairfax and the surrounding areas for 60 years, and always deliver the best service possible.
For more information or to schedule a service, give us a call at 703.270.0881!