Audit Your Home's Electrical Usage
The first step is understanding where and how electricity is used in your home. This allows you to identify the biggest areas for potential savings. Here are some things you can do:
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Review your electricity bills - Look at your kWh usage over time to see if any months are particularly high. This can clue you into appliances/devices that may be inefficient.
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Conduct an appliance audit - Make a list of all electric devices in your home. For high energy users like refrigerators, washers, and AC units, research how much power they typically use.
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Use a plug-in energy monitor - These inexpensive devices plug into an outlet and track how much energy appliances and electronics plugged into them are using. They can pinpoint energy hogs.
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Consider an energy audit - Hiring an professional energy auditor to inspect your home can identify areas for efficiency improvements you may miss on your own.
Upgrade Old/Inefficient Appliances and Devices
Replacing outdated appliances like refrigerators, washers, and AC units with ENERGY STAR certified models can make a huge dent in your electric bill. Some changes to consider:
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Swap incandescent lightbulbs for LEDs - LED bulbs use at least 75% less energy and last 25 times longer.
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Install a programmable thermostat - This allows you to automatically adjust the temperature during times you are typically away from home or asleep.
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Seal air leaks - Caulk and weatherstrip around windows, doors, pipes, etc. to prevent conditioned air from escaping and wasting energy.
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Insulate attics, basements and walls - Properly insulating and air sealing your home prevents heat transfer and reduces energy consumption from your heating/cooling system.
Choose Energy Efficient Electronics
When purchasing new electronics like computers, TVs and game consoles, look for the ENERGY STAR label to ensure you get the most energy efficient models. Also:
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Unplug chargers when not in use - Chargers use energy even when not charging devices.
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Use power strips - These allow you to easily cut power off to a group of devices to prevent phantom load.
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Enable energy saving settings - Most computers, monitors and printers have built in settings that reduce energy use when idle.
Leverage Smart Home Technology
Smart thermostats, lighting controls and power monitoring systems allow you to easily track and manage your home's electrical usage with your smartphone and automatically cut power waste.
The key is taking a whole-home approach to understand where electricity is being used, identify inefficient devices and practices, and take steps to improve energy efficiency everywhere possible. Following these wiring tips will help you save energy and money!