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The holiday season is here, which means many people are spending their time decorating for the holidays. During this festive time of year, it’s easy to get caught up in buying decorations and forget about other things like saving money on your electric bill. If you’re looking for ways to reduce your monthly bill, we’ve got some ideas that can help.
Turn Off Lights When Not in Use
This is an easy way to reduce power usage, yet many people forget about it. It’s one of the easiest ways to save energy and greenhouse gas emissions. You can turn off lights when you leave a room or make it a habit to turn them off every time you go. This will be especially important during the holiday season because additional lighting for decorations will require more energy.
If there’s a room in your house that you rarely use, make it a habit to turn off the lights when you leave the room. The more you do this each day, the more overall savings you’ll realize on your electric bill.
Maintain Thermostat Settings
Another thing you can do to increase savings is by making sure the thermostat in your house stays at reasonable temperatures. By lowering the temperature on your central heating system, you’ll reduce the amount of energy your furnace needs to heat the home. Try setting it at 68 degrees during winter and 78 degrees in summer.
Ensure you keep your thermostat set at a reasonable temperature throughout the year, not just during the holiday season. You can conserve even more money by turning off heating or air conditioning when no one is home.
Use Energy Efficient Appliances
When you’re shopping for new appliances, make sure to look for ENERGY STAR®, which is the mark of energy efficiency. When you’re purchasing significant appliances, you’ll reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and lower your electric bill by using this label.
It would be best to consider replacing old light bulbs with LED lights or compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). By using these bulbs, you can save money on your electric bill.
Unplug Electronics When Not in Use
You might not always think about the energy that your electronic devices use, but it’s essential to do so. If you have a laptop, make sure the power cord is unplugged when it’s not in use. You can also plug electronics into a surge protector and turn off the protector when no one needs to use the device.
Charging and using your mobile devices can be a significant source of power usage in your home. Avoid charging electronics overnight and using appliances when you’re not at home. By unplugging these devices, you’ll reduce the energy they use and prevent power surges that could damage them.
Place Christmas Decorations Outside
During the holiday season, it’s only natural to want to decorate your home. However, putting Christmas lights and other decorations on your indoor tree or mantel can increase power usage throughout the year. Since you’re already paying a high electric bill during this time of year, you’ll want to reduce use where possible.
If you have an artificial tree, you can place it and other holiday decorations outside. This is a great way to see your decorations without increasing power usage in your home. However, be sure to turn off the lights when you’re not at home because they’ll still use energy when unplugged.
You can also opt for renewable sources of energy by using solar Christmas lights. These give you the benefit of seeing your holiday lights without having an impact on your electric bill.
Turn Off Christmas Decorations at Night
If you have a live tree, you’ll want to ensure it’s not left on at night. If you let this happen, it could increase heating costs. The same goes for other indoor or outdoor decorations that use energy at night or when no one is home. Be sure to turn these off, so you don’t have to worry about paying for excess energy use.
If you unplug the lights and wires, they will turn back on as soon as there’s a power surge in your electrical system. This can cause damage to the wiring and transformers of your home.
If you have a timer for your Christmas lights, make sure it’s set to turn the lights on after sunrise and off before sunset. In general, you should not leave holiday decorations plugged in when no one is home.
Lower House Temperature at Night
You can reduce the temperature in your home by turning down the thermostat while no one is there during the winter months. Even if you don’t lower it every night, try doing it when everyone is away from home for several hours.
By lowering the temperature in your home, you’ll save money on heating bills. This can help with keeping your energy costs low while helping to protect our environment for future generations.
It would be best if you also kept the blinds or curtains closed at night when it’s cooler outside. If heat is allowed into your home, it can increase your energy usage.
Use an Extension Cord for Holiday Lights
If you’re looking to decorate your home for the holidays, use an extension cord to plug in Christmas lights instead of placing multiple strands up against each other. You’ll still be able to see your mornings, but you’ll reduce the risk of fire because there will be more space between the wires. If your equipment accidentally gets damaged in Coachella Valley or Morongo Basin, reach out to Home Team Electric for repair and maintenance services.
If you don’t have an extension cord, try using Christmas lights with a low-voltage transformer to reduce your energy usage. When buying these replacements for your standard Christmas bulbs, look for the “low voltage” label, so you’ll know they’re safe and won’t damage your home’s electrical system.
Keep Your Home Frost-Free
Blankets and insulated clothing will help keep you warm when the temperatures drop outside, but they can also keep heat from escaping your home. If you wear sweaters or other insulating garments during the day, you should let them air out before bed because this can cause condensation to form on the windows.
If your home gets too cold at night, you’ll have to increase heating costs to get it back to a comfortable temperature for sleep. In addition to wearing insulating clothing, you can use a humidifier or open curtains and blinds when it’s colder outside. This will help keep out the cold air so that no extra heating bills are needed.
If you have a fireplace or wood-burning stove, only use them when someone is in the room with you to prevent excess energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions from going into the atmosphere.
If you have an older model, consider replacing it with a newer one that’s more efficient so you can keep your home warm without increasing energy usage. This will help save money on heating bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for future generations to enjoy.
Install Blackout Curtains
During the holiday season, curtains can help keep your home warmer. Blackout curtains tend to work best because they’re designed to prevent heat from escaping your home. This allows you to lower your thermostat setting and cut down on energy use and heating bills. If you don’t have any blackout curtains, consider using bed sheets or blankets instead.
Saving on electricity bills this holiday season might seem complicated, but you can do it. If any of your electrical equipment gets faulty or you need an upgrade, reach out to Home Team Electric. Our professional electricians offer a wide variety of solutions to ensure your home’s electrical system is working correctly and efficiently. We offer lighting, surge protectors, smoke detectors, wiring, ceiling fans, breakers and code compliance work in the Coachella Valley, Morongo Basin and surrounding areas. Call us today and enjoy the savings!
