Summer has finally arrived. As much fun as we have during this season, it can’t be denied our electricity bill is a little heavy during this time. If you are looking for ways to enjoy the cooling at your home and not jack up your energy bill, this article is for you.
Here, we will look at 9 ways to save electricity during summer:
1. Turn off the AC when not needed
Turning off the air conditioner while sleeping helps to cut down the cost. Air conditioners are one of the major units to consume more power resulting in jacking up your energy bills. For every degree raised in the thermostat around 4% - 8% can be saved on cooling costs so make sure during the summer your thermostat is set no lower than 78O F to 80O F.
2. Clean your air conditioning vents and units
Your air conditioning is effective only when it is clean. The efficiency of an air conditioner reduces when dirt and dust particles are trapped in its filters. If your filters are not clean then the energy consumption increases by 5% to 15%.
To prevent that from happening, make sure to clean your filters, coils and fins, if anything is obstructing the airflow make sure to look out for it and replace the filters if required. Your air conditioner maintenance can directly affect your energy bill.
3. Turn off the switches when not in use
If you ignore or forget to switch off the switch when not in use, you are being lazy and irresponsible. If you are not in a room, make sure that the rooms’ light and fans are off. Make sure you are not leaving your laptop on plugged in when you are not using it, do the same with your television and gaming setups. It may not seem like a big thing, but it directly affects your bill and also is not good to waste energy.
4. Take advantage of natural resources
If you live in a place where the cool breeze is natural then try not to use air conditioning. Open up your window and let the natural cool breeze cool your room. Every time you can use natural resources, take the opportunity and do it. It is not only cost-effective but also environmental friendly.
5. Use home insulation
By insulating your walls and attic, you can easily cool your home during the summer. They help in maintaining the temperature and control humidity. During summer, it keeps the house cool, and it keeps the house warm during winters. Insulation is a multi-purpose investment. It doesn’t just provide comfort, it acts as a noise barrier, protects the structure of your house, saves money and is also environmental friendly.
Insulating your walls and attic makes it easy to cool your home in the summer. Helps maintain temperature and control humidity. It keeps the house cool in summer and keeps the house warm in winter. Isolation is a multi-purpose investment. In addition to providing comfort, it also acts as a noise barrier, protects the structure of your home, saves money, and is environmentally friendly.
6. Make use of the fans
Instead of using an air conditioner to cool the entire house in the summer, save money and use ceiling fans and floor fans to stay satisfied. They consume much less energy and make the rooms cool through air circulation.
7. Laundry Use
Washing clothes once or twice a week is an obvious source of energy consumption. To reduce summer electricity bills, use cold water instead of warm water as this reduces the energy required to provide heat to the machine. Also, instead of drying your clothes in the machine, use the hot weather to your advantage and hang them on a clothesline outside. Doing so reduces the electrical energy consumed in the process, gets the work done, and saves money.
8. Use a programmable thermostat
A programmable thermostat allows you to schedule a time when the home is vacant and when it's time to sleep. During this time, the temperature in your house will adjust accordingly, eliminating the trouble of constantly adjusting the temperature regulator. According to Nest (a leader in the programmable thermostat industry), a programmable thermostat can cut electricity bills by 20%.
9. Closing the curtains
Curtains or blinds can help you save energy. Some carefully selected curtains can protect your house from the hot summer sun. When the windows are completely lowered and curtains are closed it can reduce heat gain by up to 45%. In summer, you can close the curtains on windows to prevent direct exposure to sunlight and reduce heat from entering.
Wrap Up
Don’t let your utility bill ruin your summer. Follow the 9 simple steps mentioned above, and you can enjoy your summer without having to worry about the cost of having a cool environment. You will also be saving energy.
