How to Reduce Home Energy Costs and Offset the Rising Cost of Gasoline

Most of us don't realize it, but with some effort and planning we can realize a significant reduction in our electrical consumption and achieve savings in electrical monthly costs. With all the attention on rising gasoline costs many Americans fail to monitor and control electricity costs which in some cases rival gasoline as a recurring monthly expense. As most of our electricity is generated from fossil fuels the price per kilowatt will rise with the cost of oil.

Whether it is the result of Global Warming or a seasonal heat wave this spring has been one of warmest on record causing air conditioners to work overtime and monthly utility bills to rise proportionately. Following are some easily accomplished methods for reducing summer electrical costs and generating monthly savings that can help off set rising gasoline costs:

1.Pay Attention to the Thermostat setting:
Set your thermostat at least 2-4 degrees higher than the level you have been maintaining. At first this will seem warm, but your body will quickly adapt to the new setting. When leaving for work (if no one else is at home through the day) turn thermostat to 80 degrees. This will make the house or apartment warm, however you can achieve comfortable levels soon after returning home.

Consider installing a programmable thermostat that will change temperature settings to automatically adjust air conditioner settings to reflect when you are home or at work, and can cool your home down just minutes before you arrive.

2. Use Benefit of Storm Windows:
Most homeowners consider storm windows to be of benefit only to protect from cold winter winds and temperatures. Others open the storm windows in summer. Keeping storm windows closed can help insulate window glass from high summer temperatures that can easily enter your home through window glass.

If you do not have storm windows keep drapes and curtains closed on the sunny side of your house/apartment. Much like solar heat generators direct sun entering a room can raise the temperature significantly and place added demand on air conditioning units (and kilowatt requirements).

Window awnings are also becoming more popular in southern locales as these block sun rays from entering the house and provide a shade buffer for those who prefer not to keep drapes and curtains drawn.

3. Insulation:
In many homes ten years or older insulation has lost much of its' effect to insulate. This happens as insulation picks up moisture or is mashed down as a result of storing items in the attic and similar activities. A recent survey of my 20 year old home found attic insulation that was originally 12 inches deep now only 3 inches deep. By adding 16 inches of blown-in insulation I have noticed significant change in temperatures in the upstairs rooms at lower A/C settings.

Similarly, an inspection of the crawl space underneath my house found an estimated 30% of the sub-floor insulation had fallen and no longer insulate the floor from the temperatures in the crawlspace.

Adding attic and crawlspace insulation is expected to provide substantial winter and summer savings for maintaining temperatures in any house.

4. Appliance Use:
Limiting the use of heat generating appliances such as clothes dryers and washers, dishwashers, ovens and stovetop burners can reduce the heat load in your home that must be overcome by you air conditioning unit. If possible use these appliances as long after sunset as possible.

You can provide even more savings by ensuring that none of these appliances are operated unless they are fully loaded. Clothes washing and drying and dish washing may as a result of habit be done daily when it may be possible to schedule these for every other day or longer until the appliance is fully loaded. This can provide electrical savings in washing, drying and by reducing the cooling load.

5. Supplement A/C cooling with Fans:
With thermostats set at higher levels in summer ceiling fans and well-placed floor fans can provide circulating air, which boosts the cooling power of the higher A/C setting. 76-degree temperatures can be made to feel several degrees lower with well-circulated air. Many ceiling fans to day have reverse motions that can be used to either blow air down form the ceiling or pull air up to the ceiling depending on the switch setting. As hot air rises toward the ceiling it is sometimes beneficial to set the ceiling fan to pull cooler air up to the ceiling rather than blowing hot air down.

Thermostatic controlled attic fans are also helpful in cooling a house as these can exhaust large volumes of very hot attic air and reduce the radiant effect coming from air in a super heated attic.

6. Computers, printers and peripherals:
The rule for computers, printers and supporting equipment should be, if you are not using it, cut it off. This will not only save the energy generated by the idle equipment, can also reduce the heat load in a given room as this equipment can radiate a significant amount of heat.

7. Hot Water heaters:
If an electric hot water heater is used energy can be saved by wrapping the water heater in a 4-inch thick blanket of insulation. This inexpensive fix will save energy cost in both summer and winter.

On any water heater check the thermostat setting to be sure that the unit is not calling for a higher temperature and hotter water than is required in the home. Many homes without thought produce scalding hot water only to reduce the temperature by mixing cool water with it. If you are unsure what setting to use, experiment by gradually turning back the thermostat and testing the warmth of the water at in inside tap. Once a comfortable level is found leave setting there.

8. Learn to Use Your Electric Meter:
It is easy to learn how to read your electric meter. Take time to learn how to do this. Once you can read the meter a very beneficial means of identifying energy saving potential can be found in reading you meter daily and recording daily kilowatts used. You will find that recording this information will allow you to identify what activities in your home are using the most power. Once you have identified the source you can formulate a plan to address it and save on energy costs.

For example, if typical daily readings for your home run 5.750 kw per day +- .500 kw and one day the reading jumps to 7.500 kw you can easily identify which appliance or other unusual activity caused this spike in usage. In most cases you can develop a plan to prevent a similar spike. This plan may be as simple as turning off unnecessary lights, turning up the A/C thermostat that the kids turned down, reducing the number of clothes drying and washer cycles by combining loads, etc.

Knowing when and why your home is creating energy demand spikes can be very helpful in reducing the causes of these spikes and the added energy and cost involved.

Hopefully, some of these suggestions will be of help to you in controlling electrical consumption and costs. It is one way to help offset the rising cost of gasoline.