4 quick home energy fixes that won't break the bank
Summer may be a time of rest and relaxation, but your home is likely working harder than ever to compensate for the triple-digit heat spreading across the country. If you don't take a few precautions, your electric bills may soar to new heights.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to lower those bills. Even if you don't have the extra cash or qualify for a home equity loan, the government can help you finance those projects, according to the Department of Energy.
Here are four simple, inexpensive ways to reduce your electric bills this summer without turning your home into a sweat lodge.
1. Install a programmable thermostat
A programmable thermostat can help to reduce your electric bills this summer and year round. This quick, inexpensive fix might save you as much as 5 percent on your electric bills, according to Ronnie Kweller, a spokesperson for the Alliance to Save Energy.
"You can install an energy star qualified programmable thermostat for as little as $25 and certainly no more than $100," she says.
Kweller says her organization estimates that the average U.S. household spends $2,200 a year on home energy costs.
"Forty (percent) to 50 percent of that goes towards heating and cooling, depending on your climate," she says.
2. Seal the holes in your home
Making sure your home is tight and leak-free can also reduce energy costs.
"That means checking the sealing around doors and windows--even around electric sockets--to make sure air isn't coming in or escaping," says Kweller.
Inefficiencies in your air-conditioning system are among the biggest energy vampires in your home, according to Richard Clarke, vice president of sales and marketing for WellHome, a company that specializes in home energy efficiency.
"Protecting the 'conditioned air' from leaving the 'conditioned space' of the home is likely the single biggest thing you can do save energy," he says. "Cool air can escape, or hot air can infiltrate, through any small hole in the system."
Clarke suggests looking for holes in the following places:
- Behind your outlets
- In your recessed lighting
- Under your ceiling fan
- In your windows and doors
- In areas behind walls that lead into the attic and basement
When you add up all those holes, "it is often like having an open hole in the side of your home the size of a picture window," he says.
Holes in your ducts also steal energy. For example, if you have holes in your ducts and live in a warm climate, "you are either sucking in 100-plus-degree air into your A/C system, making it work extremely hard, or you are losing your conditioned air out of the ducts before it gets into your living space," says Clarke.
3. Adding insulation
Adding the right insulation to your home can also reduce your energy bills this summer.
"Insulation will prevent heat from the attic from making your ceilings as hot as the attic," says Clarke.
Without proper insulation, "the sun hits the roof, the roof materials get boiling hot, the energy flows through the materials and gets into the home, and your whole home is baking," he says.
There are several different types of insulation, ranging from fiberglass and cellulose to rigid foam board and spray foam. Each type of insulation is measured by its ability to resist heat flow, known as its R-value.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department have teamed up to provide a map on their Energy Star website that shows the recommended level of insulation for your region of the country.
4. Install window coverings
You can also reduce your energy bills this summer by installing insulating window film and/or coverings. These simple, affordable solutions help prevent the sun from warming your home, thereby eliminating the need to blast the AC from June through August.
"You should…buy window shades or radiant barrier film for the windows that face the sun's rays. This way, the sun won't heat your home as much, and you will feel cooler and save money," says Clarke.
In addition, Kweller recommends keeping the window treatments on the sunny side of your home closed in the heat of the day.
"Also, always close the blinds or pull the shades down before you leave the house," she says.
For more ways to save money on home energy this summer and throughout the year, schedule a home energy audit with a "Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified contractor," recommends Clarke.
