Save on electric and heating bills

Heating and electric bill costs are being estimated to increase from 10-20% this winter. There are many simple, inexpensive things you can do to save on heating and electric bills. You should weatherize your home to save on energy bills.

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), weatherization on average reduces heating bills by 32% and overall electric bills by $358 per year at current prices. Weatherization steps from the DOE to save on electric bills include :

Insulation : Adding insulation is a major part of almost all weatherization projects. You need to make sure there is adequate insulation in the walls, roof, foundation -anywhere there is a barrier between the home and the outside. This is one of the most important ways to make a home energy efficient, save on electric and heating bills.

Air Sealing - This practice reduces the flow of outside air into the home and is another very common energy efficiency measure. The main purpose of air sealing is to ideally eliminate the leakage of cold outside air into the house in winter and limit the hot outside air coming into the house in the summer. Typically, this involves caulking and weatherstripping around the doors and windows to reduce drafts. Old, drafty homes are not only uncomfortable, but they are also very energy inefficient, and both costly to heat and cool. Air sealing is an important step to save on electric bills.

Heating - DOE has discovered that homeowners can more effectively provide long-term energy savings to most homeowners if they could address heating equipment issues. In many homes, the heating equipment is very inefficient and old, such that that replacing it with modern, high-efficiency units is very cost effective. Modern controls such as programmable thermostats also can save lots of money on heating and electric bills over their lifetimes.

Water Heaters - Almost two-thirds of all homes that are weatherized need some sort of improvement to their water heating systems to help with lowering utility bills. Most heaters have insulation added to the water pipes and tank, and an even larger number of heaters receive low-flow shower heads. Reducing the flow of hot water through these units and low-flow devices is a very effective way to eliminate wasted consumption, and such devices are now very commonly used to help save on utility bills.