At this time of year, scarily huge electricity bills start appearing in mailboxes. Our central air systems help us escape the heat, but powering them can make us feel faint! Clients are always asking us how to save on energy bills. Here are a few quick, easy and inexpensive things you can do to reduce your bill this summer. These items pay for themselves before you know it!
Attic Hatch Cover
Have you ever gone into your attic on a hot summer day? It feels hot enough to fry an egg up there! Hot air moves to where cool air is found, so in the summer, that means the hot air is moving to your living areas. You are essentially paying to heat your attic in the winter and cool it in the summer. If you have one of those pull-down attic stairs, experts say that the efficiency of your attic insulation is reduced by 55%! There’s a great solution for this problem: an attic door cover. It installs easily and is made of heavy-duty foam, so it’s lightweight. You can still get in and out of your attic easily, but the air transfer is reduced.
Programmable Thermostat
Programmable thermostats can save you up to 33% on your energy bill! You can purchase a great one for about $75, and they’re relatively simple to install. For the summer, if you are out of the house all day, you can program it to let the house get a couple of degrees warmer while you are gone, and then cool down again when you are in the house. Why have your A/C working hard when you are not even home to enjoy the coolness?
Also, turning your thermostat to 78 degrees Fahrenheit is the best setting for your air conditioner during warmer months. Reducing your home's temperature to 72 degrees Fahrenheit could increase your cooling costs 12 to 47%. OUCH!
Remember, setting it really low at first will not help your home cool faster. It will use more energy, and if you forget to adjust it, you will be running far less efficiently than you think.
Sealing Outlets or Switches
Outlets and switches on walls leading to the exterior of your house are a source of energy loss. In the summer, the warm air in between the walls leaks inside through these areas. That warmer air entering the house makes your A/C unit work harder, costing you money.
It’s cheap and easy to correct this problem. You can buy thin foam sealers that fit behind the plates. These cost about 50 cents each, and can be found in your local home improvement store near the weather-stripping. You just unscrew the plate, insert the sealer and re-secure the plate. Done!
Weather-stripping
We have seen many homes in which the weather-stripping started to fall off after many years, and the homeowner just removed it without replacing it. Bad idea. Experts say a 1/4″ gap around a door or window is like having a 9″ hole in your house! Even a 1/8″ gap is like having a 6″ hole! You wouldn’t let your house have holes like that, so why do you let your door have a gap? Time to fix it! By properly sealing the door with weather-stripping, you save money on your heating and cooling bills. Weather-stripping is inexpensive and easy to install. It comes with adhesive on it, so you just peel and stick.
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Letting the Light In
Natural light is great, but the sun's heat can raise the temperature in your home. Make sure blinds and drapes are closed to help reduce the sun's thermal heat. If you are intent on letting the light in, install reflective film on the windows to block some of the heat. You also want to reserve heat and humidity producing tasks like cooking and doing the laundry to early morning or late evening.
Use Your Fans
Ceiling or table fans can also make a huge difference in cooling your home. They're not a replacement for your air conditioner, but they can give supplemental cooling. Substituting fans for air conditioners on milder days can save 60% or more in energy costs! Appropriately setting the fan on your air conditioner can help you save as well. Set the fan speed on high, except in very humid weather. This helps push cool air around the house.
We at AJAX wish you a happy, safe, and COOL summer!
