According to the US Energy Information Administration, 42% of all residential energy use goes towards heating. For homeowners in Flower Mound, TX, this typically means dealing with rising energy bills each winter. The good news is that there are some ways to reduce your home’s demand for heating and cut your winter energy bills in the process. Here are nine of the best ways you can lower your energy bills this winter.
1. Soak up the Sun
One of the simplest ways you can trim your winter energy bills is to let the sun warm your home as much as possible during the day. To do this, you should open up the blinds and curtains around your home, especially in rooms with high solar exposure. This will help to warm up your home and reduce your daytime demand for heat. Remember, however, that you should close your blinds and curtains once the sun goes down to retain as much heat as possible overnight. Otherwise, you’ll waste those gains and end up needing more heat during the night.
2. Find and Stop Drafts
You should also make an effort to find and stop any drafts from making their way into your home. The most common sources of drafts in your home come from around its windows and doors. All it takes is a tiny gap for air to seep through. Sometimes, the gaps are small enough that you’d have trouble seeing them with the naked eye.
There are a few simple things you can do to find sources of drafts in your home. If you have someone around to help, you can use a flashlight at night to look for gaps around your windows and doors. If the light from the flashlight can make it through, so can air. Or, you can use a lit candle, instead. Just hold it steady where you suspect a draft and see if the flame flickers. If it does, you’ve found the source of your draft.
Wherever you find openings allowing air leakage, you can fix it with things like caulking and weather stripping. They’re inexpensive and easy to apply. In most cases, they’ll pay for themselves in energy savings rather quickly.
3. Use a Setback Temperature
Another way to trim your winter energy bills is by lowering your thermostat by a degree or two whenever you’re away from home. You can also do this overnight when you can use blankets to offset the temperature difference and stay comfortable. According to the Department of Energy, you can save about 1% on your energy bills each time you lower your thermostat by a degree for at least eight hours. That can add up to some serious savings if you make such a change part of your daily routine.
4. Reverse Your Ceiling Fans
If you have ceiling fans installed in your home, you can use them to save energy during the winter, too. All you have to do is find the direction switch on each one and change it to allow the fan to rotate clockwise. This will pull up cool air and push warmer air down from the ceiling. As a result, you’ll feel more comfortable without having to raise the temperature on your thermostat.
5. Close Vents in Unused Rooms
You can also close some of the vents located in unused rooms in your home to save some money on your winter energy bills. However, you must be careful when doing this, or it might increase your energy use instead. In general, it’s OK to close a few vents in your home, but you should only do so sparingly. If you close too many, you will force your heating system to work against too much air pressure in your ductwork. That will reduce its efficiency and waste energy. If you have more than one or two vents you’d like to close, only close them about 75% of the way to avoid causing a pressure problem.
6. Install Insulated Curtains
Installing insulated curtains on your home’s windows is another great way to trim your winter energy bills. Doing so gives you a way to reduce heat loss through your home’s windows at night by up to 25%. Better still, most insulated curtains work well to keep heat out in the summer, too, making them an inexpensive upgrade that will save you money year-round.
7. Install Window Film
You can also install window film to further reduce heat loss in your home. Window film is typically comprised of thin polyester sheets that cling to the glass of your windows. It creates a tiny air gap that slows down heat loss through the glass. However, be aware that if you choose a window film specifically designed to block heat from outside, you will lose the benefits of your home’s solar exposure during the day, too. But if your home sits in the shade for most of the day, window film will help you save on your energy costs during the winter.
8. Lower Your Water Heater Temperature
Your home’s HVAC system isn’t the only major consumer of energy in your home during the winter. Your home’s water heater uses quite a bit of energy, too. However, the water heater in your home could be wasting energy if it’s set to a water temperature that’s higher than you need it to be. In most cases, you can lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit without noticing much of a difference. Any higher than that, and you risk scalding, so you’re likely mixing cold water with hot when you use it anyway.
9. Use Space Heaters
Although space heaters can be expensive to operate compared to a furnace or other central heating systems, there are ways to save money by using them. For example, it’s usually cheaper to use space heaters if you’re spending the majority of your time in just one or two rooms of your home. Then, you can set your home’s thermostat to a much lower temperature and reduce your demands on your home’s heating system. The net result is the comfort you want at a much lower price.
Your Local Energy Savings Specialists
If you own a home or business here in Flower Mound, Triple A AC, Heating, & Plumbing & Heating is the best place to go for all of its HVAC needs. We offer comprehensive HVAC services, including installation, repair, and maintenance. We also offer indoor air quality solutions, surge protection, and even an energy savings club to help you keep your HVAC running at peak efficiency all year long. We even offer financing options on approved credit to help you better afford the HVAC solutions you need. Since 1949, we’ve faithfully served the residents and businesses in the area, and we’ve got a long list of 5-star reviews to prove it!
If you need help reducing your winter energy bills in Flower Mound, contact our team at 469-405-4201 today.