It’s important to take care of major home maintenance and repair. That’s why so much of our advice for saving energy involves major projects like replacing your water heater, recaulking door and window seals and planting trees to provide natural shading. However, it’s not just the big things that have a major effect on your energy bill. The little things matter too, even though they sometimes get overlooked because they’re so simple. That’s why we want to take a moment to highlight some of the little things you can do around the house or home office to save energy, and save on your bills as well.
Turn off the air conditioning or heat when not at home
If you’re going to be out of the house for more than a few hours, go ahead and turn off the AC or heat. There’s no sense in keeping the house cozy for a total population of zero. However, there are a few caveats to this. If you have pets in your home, then you want to keep the temperature safe and comfortable for them. Secondly, if it’s very hot or cold outside, and you’re only going to be gone for a couple hours, it uses less energy to maintain the desired temperature, than to have to crank the thermostat setting up or down when you get home in order to bring the household temperature back to the desired level.
If you’re on vacation, turn your water heater down to the minimum setting
Water heaters work by measuring the temperature of the water inside the tank, and reheating it when the temperature drops below the desired level that you’ve set. That means if you leave the house to take a two-week vacation, your water heater will continue to faithfully keep the tank’s supply of water nice and hot, just in case you’re about to pop into the shower. This is why turning your water heater down should be at the top of your last minute checklist before you leave. You can also choose to completely shut it off, and then reignite the pilot light when you return.
Some modern water heaters even have a programmable vacation setting that allows you to shut the heater off for a specified length of time, after which it will kick back on, so you can have a hot shower or bath the moment you get home.
Cook outside when it’s warm
Summer is a great time for cooking burgers, hot dogs, and all sorts of other foods that are perfect for eating out on the back porch. However, if you use the oven or burners in your kitchen, then your air conditioning will have to kick on to compensate for the heat that you’re producing. Essentially, you’ll be getting double dinged on your electricity or gas bill. If it’s a nice enough day to eat outside, then it’s a nice enough day to cook outside. There are many inexpensive gas and charcoal grills that will allow you to take in the fresh air while you sizzle up a steak, without scorching your power bill.
Avoid doing small loads of laundry
There’s something to be said for being fastidious about properly sorting laundry. Nobody likes having their favourite white shirt come out of the washer pink. But, lots of small loads of laundry use a whole lot more electricity than a few large ones. Do your best to try and group your clothes so that you fill up the washer each time you use it. Many newer detergents are very effective at cleaning clothes even in cold water, which means that you can wash a variety of colours together, or even colours and whites, without causing colour bleeding. This makes it much easier to minimize the number of times you have to run your washer and dryer.
