Quick—what’s the easiest way to lower your monthly energy bill almost immediately? With more family members spending more time at home due to COVID-19, and the hot summer months ahead, knowing how to manage your energy use—and keep utility bills low—is more important than ever.
The place to start, according to energy experts at South Carolina’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives, is with your thermostat. It’s advice you’ve probably heard before, but it’s still the easiest way to lower your bill: Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher when the weather gets warm. For every degree you set your thermostat higher than 78, you can save 3% to 5% on your cooling costs.
Parrish Neville, marketing manager with Palmetto Electric Cooperative, says even slight adjustments in the temperature setting can make a difference, either in costs or savings.
“We tell our members to keep the temperature as close to 78 or above as they can,” says Neville. “That’s the priority. But we know homeowners need a balance between being comfortable and saving energy. Each degree you can set your thermostat higher, and still feel comfortable, will produce the biggest energy savings and lower your bill.”
Eddie Plowden, manager of marketing and energy services at Berkeley Electric Cooperative, says that if you have a programmable thermostat, it can still help save energy even though you’re spending more time at home.
“The benefit of a programmable thermostat is you don’t have to worry about adjusting the temperature yourself,” says Plowden. “You can program the thermostat for a warmer temperature during the day and then have it lower the temperature at night, if you like it a little cooler for sleeping. Keeping a consistent temperature for longer periods of the day saves more energy than constantly moving it up and down.”
Another helpful tip is to keep the thermostat fan setting on “auto.” Setting the fan on auto saves energy because the fan will only run during the cooling cycle. Once the desired temperature is reached, the fan shuts off.
In addition to keeping your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher, you also want to make sure your HVAC system is running as efficiently as possible. This will save energy and help lower your energy bill. Here are a few tips:
- Check air filters monthly. Dirty filters cause your cooling system to work harder, which wastes energy. Clean or replace dirty air filters regularly.
- Leave interior and hallway doors at least slightly open to allow for adequate air flow.
- Don’t close air vents in unoccupied rooms.
- Make sure vents aren’t blocked by furniture, rugs or curtains.
Get into energy-saving mode
Beyond managing your thermostat, there are many more no-cost, low-cost ways to save energy at home. Mike Smith, vice president for business and technology at The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, says the unique situation of being at home more can provide an opportunity for you to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
“You don’t have to do big, expensive projects to make your home more efficient,” says Smith. “You have time to really investigate your home and see where you might need to make repairs or improvements. It could be as simple as trimming the bushes around your HVAC unit. Or you might notice rotting wood around your gutters. You might need to replace the weather stripping around a door. These types of things can affect the efficiency of your home. It’s a good time to take care of some things that you might have been putting off.”
It also might be a good time to change some of your habits. Here are tips that can help you save energy as you go through your daily routine.
Turn off lights. It’s a simple thing, but leaving lights on not only wastes energy, it produces more heat in your home. How much energy you can save depends on the type of bulbs you’re using. Incandescent bulbs, the least energy efficient, should be turned off anytime you leave a room. With compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs), a general rule is to turn them off if you’ll be out of the room for more than 15 minutes, according to energy.gov. This will extend a CFL’s life, which can be shortened by the number of times it’s switched on and off. Light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) don’t have that concern, so turn them off when you leave a room.
Turn off electronics. Many appliances and electronics draw small amounts of energy even when they’re not in use. Unplugging every device in your home may not be practical. But remember to unplug devices such as cell phones, tablets, cordless appliances and other electronics once fully charged. Small savings can add up.
Wash full loads Make sure you have a full load before washing clothes. Your washer will use about the same amount of energy no matter the size of the load. Using warm water instead of hot can cut a load’s energy use in half. Using cold water saves even more. When drying clothes, make sure the load is the right size. If the dryer is too full, it can take longer for clothes to dry. Loads that are too small also take longer, which wastes energy. Remember to clean the lint filter so your dryer runs more efficiently and safely.
Can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Cooking in the oven or on the stove not only uses a lot of energy, but also heats up the house. Microwaves or toaster ovens generate less heat. Better yet, in the summer months, get out of the kitchen and enjoy grilling outdoors.
Manage your energy use online. Many South Carolina electric cooperatives offer online tools such as Smart Hub and My Energy Online to help members track their energy use. Neville, Plowden and Smith encourage members to take advantage of these tools through their local cooperative website, if available.
“The online tools can help you check your progress in managing your energy use,” says Neville. “You can view your daily and hourly kilowatt use, compare your usage day-to-day and year-to-year and see the impact daily weather has on your energy use.”
Plowden adds the online tool also can help get kids involved in finding ways to use less energy at home. “Make it a challenge for the whole family to see how much energy you can save each day.”
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