From a completely solar powered resort to a lower cost solar powered roof, people are innovating ways to cut back on energy and rely on alternative sources. It can be costly to live in newer buildings that are energy-forward, so here are a few ways that you can lower your energy costs no matter where you’re living.
We’ve previously gone over some helpful tips and tricks for cutting your electricity bill — switching to LED lightbulbs, installing energy efficient windows, or adding a bike rack to your property were just a few of them. While some of our suggestions could be applied to individual efforts, the blog post focused more on properties than people. This one’s going to be a little different!
Switch to a water-efficient shower head to use less water when bathing. Along these same lines, if you can shorten your shower time (which we all use as our singing time, too) to seven minutes or less you could be using significantly less water and have a smaller bill.
Turn off your fans. Your fan can actually spread more heat than cool air depending on the time of year and the fact that the base of the fan emits energy, so be sure to keep them off when you’re not actually in the room.
Block the sun. During warmer months you can prevent your home from heating up by closing your blinds and preventing sunlight from turning your room into a sauna. This also allows you to keep the thermostat at a slightly higher temperature, meaning you get to keep more money and use less energy.
Get an energy audit. If you’re homeowner you can look into getting a professional inspection to determine what spots in your house will require more energy and how you can combat it. If you’re renting, be sure to check in with your property managers to ask where the trouble spots might be and what advise they may have to get the most out of your apartment or condo.
Don’t forget to clean. Keeping your AC, furnace, and heating appliances clean is important to having them work appropriately as well as keeping your wallet a little fuller. Depending on what appliances you have you may have to clean less or more — some say every month, others every couple of months, and maybe even a couple times a year. Check with your landlord or the manufacturer to get the best estimate!
Keep things closed. We all get into a bad habit of cracking of the fridge but we’re not sure what we really want — well this bad habit is expending more energy than you may think. Having the refrigerator door, room doors, or fireplace shutters open is making your cooling and heating system work harder than it has to. Try to think about what you’re grabbing from the fridge before you open it and stare at everything for five minutes.
Opt for cold water. Using cold water instead of hot water requires less energy, especially when coming straight from the tap. Not only that, but you actually get rid of more contaminants when you boil water, so try grabbing the hot handle only when you need to.
Some of these are quite simple tricks that take nothing more than a conscious decision that can create better habits. It’s important to understand how energy is fueling everything around us and how we can all do our own little part to waste a little less. ✊
