About 60 percent of the average homeowner’s monthly costs are energy-related. If you are paying a lot in energy costs, there are ways to curb your usage through making small but significant changes.
As summer heats up and you turn your thermostat down, it is time to examine your energy consumption to find ways to cut back on your cooling costs this summer.
You don’t have to sacrifice or suffer through the head this summer in order to save money. Small things that you do can have a big impact on your home’s efficiency without affecting your comfort level at all. To minimize your costs try these following these five tips.
#1. Have an HVAC professional evaluate your home
If you notice that you are paying more than other people in your area or more than you have in previous years, it is a good idea to have an HVAC Winnipeg professional come out to evaluate your home. Sometimes having outdated systems, dirty ductwork or even a dated thermostat can cost you without you even knowing.
If you have an HVAC professional come evaluate your ducts and your HVAC units, they can make recommendations about how to best cut costs and have everything running at top efficiency.
#2. Insulate
If you aren’t keeping the cold air in and the hot air out, then your HVAC system will be working overtime this summer. If the unoccupied areas that the ductwork has to run through aren’t temperature controlled, then they are working against you. Insulating your home will help when the cold air starts to rush in again, but will also help keep the heat of summer outside where it belongs.
#3. Change your doors and windows
If you have an older home and you have old windows and doors, they might be costing you more than you know. If you have opted not to change out those leaky windows and doors, they might be letting all the hot and cold air right outside, which means that your HVAC system is cooling down the great outdoors and not your home.
Replacement windows aren’t inexpensive, but if you add up all the money that is escaping your house through cracks and crevices, you might find that it is much less economical to keep the old doors and windows than it is to bite the bullet and replace them.
#4. Upgrade your system
If it has been a while since you have had regular maintenance on your HVAC unit, it is time to call someone. Not only will regular maintenance ensure that your system is working optimally to achieve the greatest efficiency, but an HVAC professional will be able to recognize when your outdated system needs replacement, which could save you from realizing only after your unit breaks and leaves you in suffocating heat this summer.
The newer HVAC models are much more efficient and can decrease your carbon footprint as well as your monthly energy bill. Although it’s hard to stomach the cost of the new unit all at once, if you have an older model, it might pay off to replace it.
#5. Switch out your water heater
If you have a water heater tank, then you are heating it day and night. Water heaters work by filling the reservoir with gallons of water and keeping it constantly heated. The water sits and waits to be used and your energy bill knows it.
Not only does that lead to sediment at the bottom of the tank, which is less than healthy for your water quality, but it also means that you are paying for water to be heated around the clock, even when you aren’t using it. A tankless water heater not only provides water that is fresh and not sitting in a tank but also saves energy by not heating day and night.
Instead, when you need hot water, a tankless water heater heats at the source. The best part is that it has an endless stream of hot water as opposed to the tanked version. When all the water in the tank version is used, the hot water runs out. Making this switch can lower your energy bill and leave a positive impact on the environment.
Small things that might not seem like a big deal can have a major effect on your energy bill. Sometimes you have to spend money up front to save it in the end. If you want to know how to cut your energy costs, have an HVAC professional evaluate your system today to see what you can do to get your energy costs reduced through the whole year.