Top Electrical Energy Savings Tips For Your Home

In Lakeland the majority of your electric bill is primarily air conditioning and hot water; here are some tips to lower those costs, along with a few other ideas.

May Through October.

People living in Central Florida know how much keeping their home cool from May to October and how it can be expensive.  When temps inevitably climb 95⁰ or higher, a central air unit can run almost non-stop. During those months the power bill can be as high as the temperature. Most of the heat you feel inside your home comes from the windows. If you shut your curtains or blinds, you block the majority of the heat from the sun.  You can reduce the amount of heat that comes through your windows by adding awnings. The awnings will keep the sun’s rays from hitting the majority of the window. 

Planting fast-growing trees will be very useful in stopping sunlight from coming into or on your home. There are a number of hybrid oak trees designed to grow horizontally as quickly as they grow vertically which provide more extensive areas of shade. 

Be sure to keep lamps away from your thermostat; they can radiate heat and cause the thermostat to activate when the room is not actually warm.

Use a thermal scanner to determine where you are losing air conditioning in your home. It may be that your attic has insufficient insulation, adding insulation will keep your home cooler. Adding a radiant barrier on the underside of your roof will also keep the attic cooler and the rest of the house as well.

One of the fastest ways to heat up your home is by cooking or doing laundry. Using standard and stovetop ovens are akin to turning on a heater. When you cook in the summer, it is best to do it at night. Your air-conditioning can’t compete with the BTUs that stoves churn out. Clothes dryers are nearly as bad as to ovens when it comes to producing heat. Take clothes to a laundry-mat in peak summer months rather than drying them at home.

Hot Water.

Another great way to lower your electric bill is to get rid of your water heater for a tankless water heater. Old water heaters continuously have to keep the water in their tank warm, with a tankless water heater the water is only heated when you need it.

These are a few simple, inexpensive ways you can reduce those hefty electric bills.