I find that going green and being frugal have a lot in common, especially when it comes to these energy saving tips at home. During the winter months, people’s budgets are stretched thin. Holiday shopping has our credit card bills through the roof and winter heating costs are skyrocketing. While I would love to jump ahead with solar panel installation, it isn’t in the budget this month!
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Energy Saving Tips at Home to Save Money and Go Green!
One area of your home budget where you can save yourself some money AND help the environment at the same time is cutting down your home energy usage. When I was doing my research, I found that most of the top 10 energy saving tips for home also helped reduce your carbon footprint significantly. Here are just a few energy saving tips at home to help you save money and go green this winter!
Saving energy at home will help cut back on your utility bills, which means more money in your pocket for buying organic food! Here are a few simple ways to cut utility bills in the coming year.
Rearrange the furniture.
Make sure that your bed, chair or couch is not blocking a vent. Proper air circulation will help keep your house warm and with vents blocked, you are wasting money. You should also vacuum any vents to make sure dust and debris are not blocking air flow.
Fix leaky faucets:
If you absolutely cannot afford a plumber, put a bucket under the faucet and use the leaked out water for plants
Put weatherstripping around drafty doors:
You can also buy or make cute little draft blockers that lay on the floor in front of the door to prevent cold air from seeping inside.
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Replace your regular light bulbs with energy efficient ones:
While you may think that those fancy LED bulbs are way too expensive, most of them last about 10 years and save you a significant amount of money in the long term.
Buy appliances that have the “Energy Star” sticker.
Sometimes purchasing a new appliance can save you a significant amount of money in the long term. What does the Energy Star label mean? The ENERGY STAR label was established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy. A more efficient appliance means less waste and increased savings.
Make sure you seal around pipes, windows, doors, etc with caulking to cut down on leaks.
Insulating your home helps keep the heat you paid for inside the house where you need it. Check out The Family Handyman for tips on insulating your home.
Buy a programmable thermostat.
Keep your home at approximately 68 degrees during the winter and set the thermostat to automatically drop the temperature during the night. Since you will be under the covers, you won’t even notice the difference. If you are away from home during the day, you can also set it a few degrees cooler while you are at work, too. Check out Amazon for a few programmable thermostats.
Take a shorter shower
Set a timer for kids and make sure your hot water heater isn’t set too high…120 degrees is fine!
More Water Saving Tips:
- How to Use Less Water at Home without Giving Up Your Shower
- How to Conserve Water in the Kitchen to Go Green and Save Money
Keep your fireplace damper closed
You lose a lot of heat up the chimney when you forget to close the damper!
Wash your laundry in cold water
Cold water is actually better for clothes anyhow. Set your dryer on a ‘less dry’ mode or one that uses a sensor to detect moisture levels so it knows when the clothes are finished. Check out my post for tips on washing clothes in cold water.
Ask your power company for a home energy audit.
This will help you identify those specific upgrades that will bring you the best overall performance with the most rapid return on investment. Or, just take a look around your home using this DIY home energy audit for a general idea.
Insulate your attic.
This is one of the easiest and most effective step you can take to lower your utility bill.
Unplug all appliances that are not in use
This will help cut your electricity bill by as much as 5%. Most appliances drain energy even when not in use!
Install a ceiling fan.
Heat rises and the heat collecting at the ceiling does nothing to keep you warm on your couch. Turn on the ceiling fan and help push that warm air down a bit lower. It might keep you from nudging that thermostat up a degree or two.
Have your furnace serviced.
Probably the greatest energy savings will come from having your furnace properly serviced before using it. Since it has been sitting unused for a few months, having it looked at by a professional is a good idea to ensure it is stable enough to run throughout the winter. Also, clean the filters now before it gets too frigid out!
These energy saving tips at home can save you a considerable amount of money on your utility bills. Just making a few small changes around your home may result in a nice chunk of change in your pocket by the end of the year. Not to mention the fact that these energy saving tips at home significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Anything that helps us tread lighter on our planet is a good thing in my mind! Check out my post about winter energy saving tips for more ways to save.
Do you have any energy saving tips to share?
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
We have some leaky faucets that need fixing. I should priortize that, and talk to my kids about their long showers too!