Your home is one of your largest investments. You want it to look good, but you also don’t want to pay extra for it. When you waste energy, you’re spending too much on your utility bills. You need to lower your energy consumption. Here are three essential maintenance tasks for energy-efficient homes.
1. Add a Smart Thermostat
Your thermostat is a dumb appliance. You set it to a certain temperature, and the appliance activates when your house is too hot or cold. This happens even if you’re not home. Your thermostat also activates while you’re asleep or in the shower. It doesn’t know that you have no need for a temperature change yet you pay for that wasted energy anyway.
A smart thermostat such as a Google Nest reduces your energy consumption. This device learns the user’s behavior. It will know when you’re away from home and prevent the air from running. It will also work less at night when you’re asleep. For a modest fee of $150, you’ll buy a device that will pay for itself within two years. You will save at least that amount of energy and probably a lot more by not running your HVAC unit excessively .
2. Insulate Your Home
The windows of your home may fit right at first. Over time, however, they have a tendency to grow small cracks. The edge of the window no longer meets the facing of your home, and that leads to air leaks. Your HVAC unit will have to work harder to maintain the correct temperature.
You can address this problem by adding insulation. For a modest fee, you can use insulation to plug the holes between your windows and the rest of your home. The same is true of doors and floorboards. You should also consider it in your attic and basement if you notice air leaks in these areas, too. The cost of the insulation will pay for itself throughout time and you will be more comfortable, and will waste less energy!
3. Clean Your Ducts
Dirty ducts cause your HVAC unit to work harder than necessary. That’s because your HVAC until must run longer to ventilate your home enough to get it to the proper temperature. When your ducts have blockages, some of the air can’t go through the openings.
You should hire a maintenance technician to clean your ducts.
You’ll receive two benefits from this strategy.
- You’ll lower your energy consumption since your HVAC unit doesn’t work as hard.
- Additionally, the worker will rid the vents of any pests or rodents that they find in the vents.
You don’t want those critters in your home.
Some other Important Suggestions!
Other appliances in your home may need maintenance, too. Devices like refrigerators and dishwashers consume a lot of energy. When they malfunction, they’ll waste even more. A quick service call will pay for itself over time. You’re no longer wasting excess energy and paying for it on your utility bill.
Energy efficiency isn’t hard to do. You simply need to understand which of your home appliances use the most energy. Follow the advice listed here to make sure that these devices are operating correctly and will reap the rewards by saving money and helping our save our electricity.
These maintenance tips can help save you money, electricity, and other natural resources that will help to provide a healthier, happier home for you and your family while providing a brighter future for our children.
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We don’t have any central heating or air conditioning and use a woodburner to heat the house … so have insulated it VERY well. Each time we added more insulation, in wahtever form, we felt a noticeable difference. #WasteLessWednesday
Hi Rosie,
We do have A/C but also use wood but it is wood pellet stove and we try to keep our house insulated well. Check for cracks around windows and such. We give our A/C a yearly maintenance every Spring and change the filter. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Have a healthy, happy & blessed day.