As we look foward to colder months, you may be worrying about the heating bills that wil coming soon. Before it starts to get real cold, visit your energy company’s website for money saving tips including any assistance services they offer for families who struggle to pay thier heating bill.
Many energy companies are now offering “Average Monthly Payment” services to help you budget energy costs. This is an option to set your energy bill at a fixed monthly price over the course of the year. That way, you will never get suprised by unexpected seasonal usage jumps during the summer or winter. If you end up paying more than what you used, you will either get a refund or credit to next years bill.
According to Xcel Energy, they explain that the program “spreads your heating and cooling costs over the entire year. At no cost to you, we’ll take into account your energy costs, historical usage and seasonal fluctuations in energy use to give you a more predictable bill each month.”
During the fall, it may start to get a little colder but you are probably trying to hold off from turning the heater. As colder weather is approaching, higher energy bills are on their way. In addition to my post “Pull the plug on your energy bill,” here are a few ideas to save on your energy bill this winter with NO investment cost:
- Open all your blinds and drapes on the south or west (or southwest) side of your home. That way the most amount of heat from the sun fills your home
- Set your thermostat to 68 degrees even when you are away during the day
- Set your water heater to 120 degrees
- Use cold water when you do laundry
According to Money magazine (July 2008), home energy bills are up 9% from just a year ago. To save money, people are now trending green and getting creative on how they are cutting thier energy usage like audits, solar panels, new energy efficient appliances etc.
Although these changes are great ideas, not only for your wallet but the environment as well, they can come with hefty investment costs. This can leave a lot of people on tight budgets stuck with high energy bills. Below are easy and cheap ways to save on energy that should still make a difference on your next bill:
- Unplug appliances and electronics when you are not using them. Referred to as “Vampire” appliances that suck energy even when turned off, devices with standby power like computers, TV and stereos should be plugged into power strips to easily shut them off. Also unplug items like phone chargers and small kitchen devices.
- During the summer, hang dry your towels and whites instead of using your dryer. Not only will this keep your house cooler, but your towels will have a nice outdoor sunny scent.
- Replace your regular bulbs with compact fluorescents
- Remove a bulb or two from light fixtures that use 3 or more at once. I have a light fixture in my living room that using 4 bulbs but I removed one. The light is slighter dimmer, but I save money on buying new bulbs and some energy cost.
- Install a Energy Star programmable thermostat for about $60 to turn down the heat when you go to sleep and to automatically raise it before you wake up out of bed.
- Change the air filter in your heating and colling system every 3 -4 months.