Ways of Lowering Home Electric Bills

We are blessed with the innovative technologies and appropriate utilization of energy around us. There are numerous sources of energy are available to make our living easier. Energy lights up our home every night, keeps us warm in winters, allows us to get entertainment. Energy has made our lives pleasant all the time without any difficulty. Today, it is quite hard to live without energy consumption for daily work. Sufficient energy is available for a lifetime but it does not mean that there is no need to conserve it. In any case, every technology has its own cost. And we have to pay for this cost with cash. Now, you can easily cope with your energy bills. Numerous ways have been derived for lowering home electric bills.

1. Good roof coating helps in deflecting heat. This ensures that your home would significantly maintain temperature on the inside.

2. The well insulated attic will facilitate you in keeping your entire house cool. Attic is one of the significant parts of any house especially in relation to cooling system. But attic can only perform this key purpose if it is insulated properly. The attic door should also be sealed make sure that air from the house is not going through it and vice versa. Weather strippers are best to seal the attic door.

3. Securing leaks around your house will also aid you in controlling energy lost. These leaks have a great deal of contribution in high cost of home electric bills. Since, leaks make possible for air to go out of the house and vice versa. This results in increase of workload of home’s heating/cooling system. You know that air moves in accordance to air pressure together with temperature. Mostly the temperature inside the home differs from the outside one and air can easily move through these leaks. So, make it sure that leaks are sealed well. Consequently, less work is done by cooling and heating system of your house. Eventually, it cuts down your house electric bill.

4. Reduce the thermostat to save a lot of money. 1°C equates the 5% of electric bill savings. So, always keep your thermostat at low temperature. You can keep it further low during sleeping or when you are out of home for saving more money. 68 °F is an ideal temperature of thermostat during winter season.

5. Water heaters also utilized a large amount of energy. Therefore, try to limit its use. It is the second largest energy consumer after cooling/heating system of your house. Avoid the use of hot water to wash your clothes because it is the job of detergents to eradicate germs from clothes. This will help you in saving as much as 90% of energy which would be consumed by the washing machine.

6. Use of energy efficient materials and appliances around your home is another way to save your money at energy bills. These commercially available items would considerably add to the reduction home energy bills. One of these items is power efficient windows, which deflect the outside temperature from inflowing into your house.

You can lower your house electric bills to your desired level by following the above mentioned ways.

Save Money With An Energy Audit

Each month your electricity bills give you a shock? And you always think of keeping a close check on electricity usage? It’s quite simple if you really want to ‘audit’ your electricity expenses. Similar to an official audit, your home energy audit will give you a clear understanding of the usage per appliance, the peak hours of electricity consumption and cost-benefit analysis. Ultimately you’ll be in a better position to take control of your monthly bill. Once you get to know the consumption pattern, you’ll be able to take corrective actions that will not only reduce unnecessary electricity usage but will also improve your budget.

You can perform this energy audit yourself if you have the necessary knowledge of energy requirements, consumption pattern and methods to measure energy leakage. Otherwise you can hire an ‘external auditor’ that has been trained for such purpose and are well-equipped for the assessment. They have the blower doors and infrared cameras to assess the loss of cooling and heat from a house. Any hidden holes and cracks are detected. These auditors check the walls, ceilings, doors and every other prospect that can contribute to energy conservation. But if you want to save cost, you can perform an energy audit yourself. You first have to familiarize yourself with the procedure of energy assessment. Make sure to make a list of spots and ways you discover to improve energy usage.

The first and foremost factor in energy spill is air. Any crevices or gaps in walls, window panes, after split units, holes in cupboards or in walls can fairly raise the cooling and heating requirements. Check for any such cracks in your house and fill them up, which can reduce electricity usage by almost 30% a year. Examine each wall, door, ceiling separately and don’t forget to take a look at fireplace dampers and switch boards too. After internal examination, check exterior walls and chimney too but beware of any possible air combustion. Inspect the insulated walls and ceilings, read installation manual and check if the insulation is meeting those requirements. You will need some electricity voltage readers when you’ll deal with the insulation.

A thorough examination of cooling and heating system is must and any defects must be removed immediately. Dilapidated cooling or heating systems consume considerably higher amount of energy than the newer ones. Determine whether you really need to replace your system. It is advisable to take services of professionals as they can accurately measure air filtration, heat conduction, energy input rate and R-value (rate of resistance) of various components. Before his inspection, you must have your own list of possible energy leakage problems.

He can also report the mechanical efficiency of each device by measuring the input and output rate. Home energy auditor is an expert of thermograph and can record surface temperature of each wall. Thus identifying any loss of heat or cooling either through convection or radiation. A thermal assessment can nearly cost $300 to $600.A noncontact infrared thermometer can be used to make a rough estimate of heat loss if you don’t want to spend this much on thermal assessment. Temperature of exterior walls is measures in this method to calculate gross temperature.

Use and Saving of Home Energy

Use and Saving of Home Energy

Do you know where does your energy consumption go? Have you ever thought of saving energy and lowering of your electric bills? If not then do think about it and try to find out the solutions to these issues.

The major portion of your electricity is utilized by space heating, which is exactly about 47%. It is approximately half of the cost of your monthly electricity bill. The remaining one is shared lighting and appliance (24%), water heating (17%), air conditioning (6%) and refrigeration (5%). Now, you can easily decide when you are going to start saving energy by lowering its consumption. You can take a start from space heating because it consumes the major part of electricity.

Walls and ceiling insulation in your homes will surely help you to save electricity up to 30% on heating cost which equates to 15% of reduction in total cost of electric bill. Although, you need to spend money on insulating materials for different parts of home, yet it will be quite significant in coming days. You can save approximately $150 every year just by the insulation of your home.

If you are living in cold environment then it is recommended to go for super insulation of your home. You can also lower your electric bills by bringing few alterations around your house. If living in warm climate then shade of a deciduous tree will be helpful in cooling down the surrounding area of your house. This results in decreased utilization of air conditioner, which ultimately reduces the cost of your electric bill.

Proper painting of walls and roofs will further help you in extra savings on electric bills. You can also cover your windows with synthetic/plastic coatings to provide additional insulation. Seal the leaks all around your house and make it sure that the heat will not go outside. Leaks may come from doors, joints, windows and sills etc.

The habitual maintenance examination on furnace will make it operating proficiently. In this way the space heat equates the electricity consumed. Use of clean air-filter will again ensure that you are getting good air recycling and clean air as well. Leaking ducts can cause more power consumption because your heating system has to work 30% more than normal. This will result in more energy loss and hence, increase in your electric bill.

Approximately quarter of the bills goes to the lighting and other electric appliances. So, you should also try to control the useless consumption of lights and electronic appliances. Always, turn off all the extra lights, stereo and television when not in use. Also, turn the lights off before leaving the room even for few minutes.

Thermostat of the refrigerator should be reduced as it utilizes about 20% of the total household electric use. You can save about 90% of power consumption by washing the clothes with cold water instead of hot water. Germs on the clothes are eradicated through detergents rather than hot water. Also, try to make less use of washing machines as much as possible.

Temperature reduction of the water heater also helps in cutting down the cost of your electric bill. Try to employ water heater jacket, which is economical and will surely yield to larger electric bill savings.

Always seek for energy efficient appliances. For instance, compact energy bulbs are more power efficient than ordinary incandescent bulbs.

No Cost Home Energy Saving Saving Methods

We all know that energy is the most abundant and kind resource for us. We can not imagine spending a day with out energy. It is also a fact that, nowadays with our increasing dependence on energy appliances the electricity price is soaring. It is the need of time to comprehend the ways for the conservation of energy, so that we can cope with increasing prices within allocated budget.

There are some ways that will tell us how we can conserve energy significantly and minimized the cost of energy use. You just need determination and understanding to save energy. These tasks are not hectic or costly; you just need to pay proper attention towards your daily chores. Do not turn on lights during day time. Make the efficient use of sunlight during day time. Use solar energy bulbs in your home gardens and street lights that are charged during day and give you light at night.

Turn off, energy appliances such as stereo, fan, tube light and television before leaving room. Turn off monitor of your computer when it is not in use. Unplug mobile chargers, night lamp etc. when you do not need them. Remember, energy wasted means your money wasted, and we all know that turning off all the energy units when we do not use them help us to save considerable amount of money during your life. On one hand washing machine and dishwasher are blessing of science that make your life more comfortable. It is advised that when you have only few dishes or cloths to wash, do it with hands. It will help you to save incredible amount of energy and money.

Always use front loading washing machine, it will not only saves money but also saves water and energy consumption. You can save remarkable amount of energy without using electric heaters as it consumes lot of electricity during heating the water. Do not unfreeze meat in microwave oven. It is foolish to do so. Remove meat from fridge an hour before you want to cook it or dip it in hot water. Do not place hot food items in ridge. It requires lot of energy to cool them. Try to get deep freezer. It will help you to fit all fridge items in one fridge. Try not to buy another fridge. It would simply double your energy consumption.

While your room heater or AC is on, make sure that there is no leakage in your home. If there is leakage in room it will ultimately consumes more energy to warm or cool down your room. Always keep the temperature of AC as 26 degree or less. Turn off heaters while not at home or sleeping. It will not only minimize the energy consumption but also truncate fire risk.

Energy saving gives you mental relaxation by lowering your electricity bills. By adopting all the above instructions, I guarantee you the considerable difference in your electricity bill. Proper utilization of energy bestows you economically and socially.

Use Bricks, Save Energy

If you are thinking about building your house or renovating it, consider the savings you can ensure by making some design changes in your house. Be sure to make the right decision regarding building material that can ease your life in future. Lightweight construction material can contribute greatly to your monthly electricity bill.

How? Extreme weather conditions require indoor adjustment of temperature that result in installation of multiple cooling units and electric heaters. Ultimately your monthly bills go up. In various parts of the world, houses are built with bricks instead of wood that not only save forests from depletion but also minimize the energy requirements of the house. Governments of some countries have even passed a regulation that requires people to build houses using clay bricks.

If you plan your house design and building material rationally, you’ll end up in saving many dollars monthly to spend that elsewhere.

Design your house according to the established standards of a passive house, which will moderate the temperature by repelling intense heat and wintriness externally. The wall facing the north must be made of glass that would ensure maximum input of sunlight during winters and will keep house illuminated even in cloudy days. During hot weather you can block direct sunlight by using extended shades or eaves.

In passive houses, wind is allowed to enter and exit through ventilators that are usually positioned at upper part of each wall. The air crosses freely and eliminates the need of an Air conditioner. In summers the openings must be reasonable so as not to incorporate heated air. An significant concern in passive houses is insulation that acts as a barrier between internal and external temperatures of house.

When the wind is too icy, insulated ceilings and walls maintain rooms’ temperature and keep it from falling. Similarly during summers, blazing sunlight can’t produce intense heat in house.

Thermal mass bricks do not conduct heat as freely as light construction materials do. Clay bricks obstruct the heat from penetrating into the house because of the thermal mass. Building your house with thermal mass bricks will reduce the energy requirements.

Resistance of walls is measured through R-value, which is very high in passive houses. The indoor environment will always be moderate because of the bricks that act like shield against intense weather conditions. All rooms have standardized temperature unlike the uneven temperatures in ordinary houses. Discuss these issues with your contractor and architect, ensure that your house is properly ventilated and is made up of bricks that contain high amount of thermal mass. Bricks rebound heat to the eternal environment and absorb the remaining, keeping the house safe from becoming too hot or too cold.

Denser material maintains and stabilizes home temperature in all weathers. Passive design of houses makes them more energy efficient by optimally utilizing sunlight and saving cooling and heating expenses. You can even erect solar panels on the external surface of house, which will suffice your electricity necessities. Planting deciduous trees beside house will help in temperature control.

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