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Here are a few easy ways to save some money on your energy bills as well as make your home more energy efficient.Seal it up. Use weather stripping and caulk to seal air leaks and block drafts. Make sure you check around doors, windows, chimneys and electrical outlets for any potential air leaks.
Insulation. Make sure your home has adequate insulation. This includes the attic, exterior walls, floors, basement and crawl spaces. A few years ago we added insulation to our attic and it made a huge difference in our energy bill. I had no idea how much heat was escaping up there during the winter months.
Watch your indoor temperature. Keep your thermostat set at 68 degrees in the winter and 78 in the summer. You can save the most money by investing in a programmable thermostat. You can adjust the temperature when you are asleep or away.
Install compact fluorescent light bulbs. Energy Star bulbs use up to 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
Wrap it up. Use clear plastic sheets over the inside or outside of your windows to reduce heat loss. We did this in my daughters room and it was amazing how much warmer it made it.
Keep it clear. Keep air registers and radiators clear from furniture, toys, curtains and other objects.
Maintenance. Have your heating and/or cooling systems serviced once a year so that it runs efficiently and properly. Change your filters regularly since dirty filters can make your system work harder and use more energy.
This post is linked to the Frugal Tuesday Tip here at Learning the Frugal Life.
I am chuckling about the plastic sheets over the windows. A few years back, I thought this sounded like a fantastic idea, so I decided to give it a go. I spent the better part of a day covering all the windows and painstakingly smoothing out the wrinkles with a hair drier.
ReplyDeleteThen I went out to run some errands and came home to find the house covered with bits of plastic and the cats beside themselves with kitty joy in a plastic shredding frenzy!
OMG - that same thing happened to me! We can't use plastic sheeting anymore because our cats tear it to shreds!
ReplyDeleteive always wanted to do a post like this.
ReplyDelete