Does your monthly energy bill make your heart skip a beat? Do you want to do your part in helping the environment, but don't know where to start? There are plenty of easy ways that can help you save money and protect our planet.
Here are five easy tips that will help cut down on wasted energy and save you money at the same time.
1. Turn off lights when you leave the room
This is one of the easiest ways to save money and energy. If you leave your lights on overnight or when no one is in a room, you are wasting electricity, and therefore wasting money. Not to mention the amount of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions that come from having lights left on when they aren't needed.
2. Take advantage of natural light instead of electricity for lighting
Open up your curtains and let as much natural light into your home as you can! The sunlight will help brighten up rooms and cut down on the wattage required to power household lights, and if you have a nice view such as a waterfront or equestrian view why not! If natural light isn't an option in a room, look into buying energy-efficient lighting to help with power bills. Just switching to a more eco-friendly bulb can make a huge difference!
3. Turn off your electronics when you’re not using them
Computers, televisions, and other electronic devices continue to draw electricity even when they are not in use. This is known as "phantom load." To avoid this phantom load, when you're at home try to turn off all non-essential electronics when you're not using them. Your bank account will thank you! You can either unplug your devices or you can purchase timers for them so that they power down automatically. This will help cut down on the amount of wasted electricity that these products produce.
4. Turn down your water heater
This is another money saving tip that can also be viewed as a way to "give back" to the environment. By keeping your water heater at lower temperatures, you will use less energy and save on heating costs. This will also help protect our environment because we will use less natural resources such as gasoline and electricity in order to heat up our water.
5. Use programmable thermostats
A lot of modern homes have programmable thermostats that are an easy way to be sure your home is at the most energy efficient temperature when you're away at work, and while you sleep at night. You can program your thermostat to lower or raise the temperature depending on when you are away. This can help save on heating and cooling costs since your house won't be heating or cooling an empty space.
The tips in this article should give you the best of both worlds: help you save money on your monthly energy bill while also helping to take care of our environment. Be sure to ask yourself "is this device necessary?" before plugging it into an outlet, and remember that turning off lights, unplugging electronics and using natural light will all help you save money and protect the environment. These simple tips and tricks are just a few of the easy changes that you can make to ensure your home is more energy efficient. Start today and do your part to help our environment and cut down on your energy use.
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