7 Energy-Saving Tips During Winter

Winter is just around the corner. For this year, spending the winter months in the time of the coronavirus pandemic is expected to be very challenging financially. We must make considerable adjustments in our energy consumption because that is where the biggest slice of the pie of spending goes. Aside from us needing to secure our finances for health emergencies that may come to our home anytime during the winter, energy efficiency should be our priority

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We know that our power bills are expected to go up during the winter season. Here are 10 energy-saving tips during winter:  

1. Add insulation. A good sign that your home is energy efficient is when the home insulation is in good condition. Check the areas of your home and identify the spots with poor insulation and have them remedied. Also, try to look for opportunities to have your new insulations provided with discounts by packaging it together with other services – like a new gas company installing new equipment together with insulation, etc.,

2. Replace old windows and doors. You need to check the old parts of the window and any of your doors that are already drafty. This will affect the overall temperature of your home as the inner heat in a room can easily dissipate when there is enough presence of unwanted cold air that has escaped from those openings. This may also be a good time for you to flaunt your personalized family established name signs.

3. Hang heavier curtains and blinds to trap the heat inside. Thicker curtains help prevent the loss of heat that should go through your windows. You can also control the openings on your curtains or blinds for day time, to let the sunlight in, and keep them closed at night. For bedrooms, especially for kids, you can help tack up blankets or thick sheets of cloth over your windows to add more insulation for the room. Do this as a bonding activity for your kids. 

4. Drop your thermostat level at night. The Department of Energy estimates savings of about 1% for each degree of thermostat adjustment per 8 hours. They are also recommending turning them back 7 to 10 degrees from the normal setting for 8 hours a day to get up to 10% estimated savings for the entire year. 

5. Retain your body heat by drinking hot beverages. Instead of depending all on your thermostat, you can also maintain the heat inside your own body by making some hot drink – cocoa, milk, wassail, or anything that will warm you up. This can help regulate your body temperature and not be forced to cranking up or down your thermostat when it isn’t even necessary.

6. Install ceiling fans in your rooms. During winter, your ceiling fan can disperse the heat from the warm air produced by your heating system during the daytime. The fans push the warm air down, instead of being dissipated above the room where you won’t be able to feel or enjoy anymore.

7. Use space heaters instead. It would save you more money to use space heaters in specific rooms only instead of relying solely on your thermostat for the rest of the home. 

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Utility bills are expected to go up during the winter season. Add to it the air of uncertainty that the pandemic is bringing, this gives us a lot of reasons to be more efficient and do whatever we can to lower down our energy cost. This way you can enjoy the Holidays Season with not much to worry about.