4 Big Tips To Reduce Your Winter Energy Bill

 

Last month we talked about how Majic Window can help you save money on your winter energy bills, but changing out your windows is not the only step you can take to reduce your energy costs. This week, the team at Majic Window has taken the time to outline a couple more energy saving tips for you.

Train Your Thermostat

Any time you step out of your house set your thermostat 10 to 15 degrees cooler than you would normally have it at. There are at least 8 hours or so of the day when you are out of the house. If you create a s schedule for your thermostat to reduce the heat while you are at work you can save up to 10% on your winter heating bill.  If you want to increase the savings even more, adjust the thermostat to be lower for the 6-8 hours that you sleep for an additional savings of up to 20%!

Dial Back The Water Heater

On average the Department of Energy estimates water heaters to account for 14 to 25 percent of monthly energy bills. Hence, reducing the energy required for your water heater by a little bit can go a long way. Most water heaters are factory set to operate at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, but this is unnecessarily hot. Setting your water heater back to 120 degrees is more than warm enough. For every 10 degrees that you set a water heater back you could stand to save 3 to 5% on your energy bill. Want to save even more? Reduce the amount of hot water used by investing in low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators.

Improve The Chimney

The chimney is a large gaping hole through which heat can escape and cold air can flow in. Your chimney more than likely has a working damper, but it certainly is not airtight. In fact, if you were to poke your hand up inside the flue of your chimney you would probably feel a draft. Masonry retrofits and chimney caps are a great solution to reduce air flow, but they can be very costly additions to your chimney. Instead, you may want to look for fitted glass doors to place over the fireplace. Any of these options will keep the warm air in and the cold air out to reduce your electric bill as much as possible.

Replace Furnace Filters

Make sure to replace or clean furnace filters when possible. Dirty filters greatly restrict air flow which in turn increases energy use. Making sure your furnace is clean and properly functioning will reduce energy use and could save you up to 5% in heating costs.

Using a combination of one or all of these energy saving tips will greatly reduce your costs for the remainder of this winter season. In case you missed it, make sure to read over our post on how Majic Fiberglass windows can help you reduce your heating costs. Majic Fiberglass Windows are some of the most energy efficient windows in the market place. Want to know more? Simply venture over to our fiberglass windows page.