Save on Energy Costs in 2017 by Doing This Now

Make your home more energy efficient this coming year and watch your energy bills drop! To create a “greener” home that uses less energy, keep in mind the advice listed below. Just by following one or two of these tips, you’ll be able to save big; imagine how much energy savings you could achieve if you apply each one!

Our Top Energy Efficient Tips for Your Home

• Check Your Refrigerator Gasket: An easy way to check to see if you’re losing money from a leaky refrigerator is to place a lit flashlight in your refrigerator and close the door. If you see any light leaking from the refrigerator, that means that cold air is escaping, too. If this is the case, be sure to replace your refrigerators gasket so you’re not wasting energy.

• Turn off the Lights When You Leave the Room: This is a simple task that can be done by everyone in your home—even the little ones! Simply make a habit of turning out every light when you leave a room, and only have the lights on in a room when occupied.

• Lower Your Thermostat During the Colder Months: This may seem like the opposite of what you want to do, but by lowering your thermostat just 7 to 10 degrees, you can save up to 10% on your heating bills! This is best done at night while you are sleeping; you won’t even notice the dip in temperatures when you’re snuggled up in warm blankets. In fact, slumbering in cooler temps around 65 degrees is supposed to encourage a good night’s sleep.

• Use Power Strips Wisely: Purchase an advanced power strip, which works by not allowing whatever’s plugged into the power strip to draw power when not in use. You can purchase these at most home improvement or handyman stores.

• Wash Your Laundry on Cold: About 2/3 of all energy used by your washing machine goes into heating the water, so save on that cost by choosing the cold setting instead. Warm water also is more likely to break down dyes and cause shrinkage to fabrics, making cold-water-washing a gentler choice for your clothes and linens as well as eco-friendly.

• Put Draft Blockers on the Bottoms of Your Exterior Doors: This is a simple (and decorative!) way to keep drafts from coming into your home. You can make draft blockers yourself, or purchase them from a store; either way, they’ll definitely help keep your home warmer during the winter months.

• Get Regular Maintenance on Your HVAC System: Have your HVAC system serviced if you haven’t done so in the past year. This small act can lead to big savings, as an HVAC technician will be able to tell you if your system is operating efficiently, and if not, how to improve it. At Schmitt, we are experts in HVAC, and maintenance visits are just one of the vast amount of services we offer. We are proud to serve the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area and value each of our wonderful customers. Give us a call! (415) 522-0966