Think You Can’t Control Energy Costs? Think Again

You may believe there isn’t much you can do to control energy costs if you want to keep your family comfortable through the cold winters and hot summers. While it’s true that you can’t control the price of the energy you use to heat and cool your home, you have a lot of control over the amount of energy you use every month. In this area, you can reduce the size of your monthly energy bills.

Here are a few suggestions for ways to control energy costs. Some of them are free and only require paying attention to the way your family uses energy. Some of them require substantial capital investments. Start at the top and work your way as far down the list as your preferences and budget allow. This is by no means a complete list, so be creative and come up with some energy-saving ideas of your own, as well.

• Lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer at night or when the house is unoccupied for more than a few hours. You can do this manually if you have a good memory, or invest in a programmable thermostat to do it automatically.
• Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees. This will save on energy costs and make your household safer for your kids, too.
• Turn off lights when a room’s unoccupied. You can install motion-sensing switches if your family members can’t get in the habit of hitting the switch on the way out of each room.
• Replace the most-used incandescent bulbs in your house with CFLs or LEDs. Modern bulbs use far less energy and last many times longer than incandescents, so they give you a great return on investment despite their higher up-front cost.
• Replace your heating and air conditioning systems with new, high-efficiency units. These, too, will pay for themselves in reduced energy costs.

Contact us at Fred’s Heating and Air for more energy-saving tips and for help installing more energy-efficient systems. We help homeowners and businesses control energy costs throughout the Omaha area.