DELICIOUS
SU
REDDITThe following is a sponsored post brought to you by Payless Power, a top energy company that serves residents within the DFW area with the goal of decreasing the cost of electricity for all.
For people everywhere, finding ways to reduce the monthly expense of electricity is a continuous goal. In the event individuals call warmer regions like Fort Worth home, this may be a particularly important objective as the likes of heating and cooling homes combined with the other standard costs of keeping spaces comfortable and accommodating to our everyday needs can cost us. These needless charges can be counteracted by following a few strategies that will help to cut your monthly bill while in some regards making your life easier. Consider the following and see if they could help you in your quest to save on electricity.
Change Light Bulbs
As the things responsible for giving our homes light, bulbs are one of the most frequently used sources of electricity within houses. Given their constant use, being able to get them to serve as a method for saving can be valuable to homeowners. In order to do so, switching out old bulbs and replacing them with newer, more efficient types like LEDs will help to ensure savings. Though they do have a higher upfront cost, LEDs have improved function over other bulbs as they convert 80-90% of the energy they are supplied with into light in comparison to the 20-30% given off by incandescents. Additionally, LEDs have the ability to operate in extreme temperatures, a capability not shared by less efficient bulbs. Beyond that, LEDs have a longer lifetime, saving individuals in the long run.
Programmable Thermostat
As the most costly expenses within homes, heating and cooling are something that many are conscious of when trying to reduce their electricity consumption. While manual adjustments may do the trick, installing a programmable thermostat can make it even easier to put money back into your pocket. The value of these comes mainly from their ability to regulate temperature automatically, allowing us to save while turning the temperature down a bit as we sleep or are out. There are even smart thermostats now that act in a similar manner but that can be accessed remotely through the use of cellular device apps. The most notable difference is the ability of smart thermostats to learn our behaviors and optimize our energy use based on our preferences and when we are inside of the house. This can grant even more savings than a standard programmable thermostat as it will not rely on being properly programmed to save us the most.
Get Out of The House
One of the easiest methods to save electricity at home is to simply get out of the house for a bit. Especially in Fort Worth where beautiful summers and springs grant residents the ability to enjoy the serenity of nature, there are a number of ways to occupy your time. Finding hobbies that get you outdoors like gardening or hiking can grant your home a valuable opportunity to power down. You can even engage in some physical activity such as biking or walking. One great place to go to get out of the house is the public library, which gives people access to books that can be checked out free of charge with the use of a library card. These can provide hours of entertainment the require zero electricity within your home, with the exception of a light source. The computers in libraries will also mitigate your energy use at home by allowing you to search, watch, and enjoy the content you would normally end up paying for in the comfort of your own home.
Use Natural Lighting
While lights do enable us to navigate our homes easily, during the daytime relying on the natural lighting that shines in from the outside can be just as valuable. Utilizing it, we can do without an energy-consuming light source well into the day. The additional bonus of relying on natural light is that with it comes warm rays of sunlight that can increase the temperature of your home. This is a great method for warming things up naturally during the cooler months, which can help to bring down the cost of heating and cooling. During the warmer months, you may want to consider relying on this money saving tip a bit less as it may heat your home to unwanted levels. To combat it, all you need to do is close your blinds or drapes. Light colored window coverings will help limit the amount of heat that is able to enter because it can reflect some of the rays that try to get into homes.
Unplug Your Devices
A form of energy consumption that individuals fall victim to without realizing it is referred to as vampire energy. Though it is known by several other names like standby power or the phantom load, vampire energy comes as a result of powering down an electronic device but keeping it plugged into a socket. At that point in time, devices are still able to consume energy. Even though the amount consumed is smaller, vampire energy can end up costing individual households several hundred dollars each year. Vampires that commonly lurk in the home include coffeemakers, electric toothbrushes, and even cell phones that have been fully charged but left plugged in. To stop the drain of vampire energy, be sure to unplug your devices when you have finished using them. You can make this easier by enlisting the aid of power strips which can house several electrical cords. For those electronics that are related like a television and video game console, put them in the same strip so that when you are finished, you can cut the energy use of everything by unplugging only one thing.
Open Your Windows
For many, windows are a means of looking out onto surroundings or allowing light to shine in. It is often easy to forget that they can also act as tools for driving down our electricity costs. Spring, summer, and even fall in some cases, windows can be opened around homes in order to allow refreshing gusts to sweep into our homes from outside. These breezes can cool off houses without requiring occupants to adjust the thermostat or make other attempts at bringing down the temperature. At night as the temperature outside drops, opening up windows within bedrooms can make for the perfect environment for sleeping. And as we rest as night, our body temperature naturally decreases. By opening up a window ahead of time and helping to get that process started within our spaces, we are able to make it easier on ourselves to reach a state of sleep.
