Thank you to Direct Energy for sponsoring today’s post, and encouraging me to share tips for a smarter home!
We’re all excited to see such a cold winter finally take it’s leave, but summer in central Texas means $400 electric and water bills – and that’s no fun either.
With 2 AC units running full force 24 hours a day, we are always looking for ways to make our home more energy efficient. There are a few things that we’ve already done, some that have to be done regularly and some that we still need to work on.
Today I’d like to share what we’ve been doing to make our home more eco-friendly. Hopefully these tips will help save you some green while being green this summer!
Tips for Making Your Home More Energy Efficient
1. Keep blinds and curtains closed during the heat of the day. We have a big wall of windows in our family room and the afternoon sun can make this room VERY warm, so this really helps.
2. Buy Energy Star appliances. We’ve replaced a few of the appliances in this house in the 5 years that we’ve lived here. Appliances with the Energy Star seal are 10-50% more energy efficient than other appliances.
3. Change the direction of your ceiling fans for the appropriate season: winter = clockwise; summer = counter-clockwise. In the winter time, the ceiling fan can help push the warmer air down. In the summer, it can help by circulating the air to produce a breeze to cool you.
4. Change your air filters every 1-3 months (check the packaging). This is a hard one for us to remember, but it can make a serious difference. We’ve called for AC maintenance at least once each summer only to find out that our AC has frozen over because our air filters were dirty. Try to set a schedule to check them on the first of each month.
5. Unplug devices that are not in use. Just because you aren’t using the device doesn’t mean that electricity isn’t still going to it. Be sure to unplug things you’re not using.
6. Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. These bulbs use a lot less electricity and last much longer than regular bulbs….just a smart move even if they look kind of funky.
7. Check doors and windows to make sure they are sealed tightly and air is not escaping or coming in. We need to work on this. I’ve noticed that a lot of the weather stripping around the doors is coming off. Also on one of the ice days I noticed water inside on the window sills.
8. Replace shower heads with low flow shower heads to reduce water usage. These shower heads regulate the flow of water reducing waste. Also try to limit your shower time to as fast as possible.
9. Run the dishwasher and washer/dryer at night so they aren’t using electricity during peak hours. In the summer time we have had rolling “brown outs” – when the power goes out at peak times because there’s too much strain on the circuits. If everyone tries to remember to run their appliances after 8pm, we will reduce the load.
10. Install a smart thermometer. We need to work on this one. Right now I change the temperature each morning and evening, but I’m sure it would be more energy efficient if it was automated.
Direct Energy (click this link from your desktop to see it best) has a plan called the Meridian Savings Plan. With this plan you get a competitively priced fixed energy charge, up to three Honeywell Smart Thermostats, plus a smartphone app that allows you to control your thermostat anytime, anywhere.
How do you make your home a green place?
