light bulbs
Republished with permission from Shine Retrofits

Upgrading your home’s energy efficiency can help you save money and significantly reduce your home’s annual energy usage. The energy consumed in your home can quickly add up, whether it’s being used to keep your rooms cool in the summer, to heat your home in the winter, adequately light the property, or to operate any electrical equipment in your home.

Making some simple changes can have a huge impact on your energy bills. Try these three home energy upgrades to drastically cut your energy costs:

  1. Turn Off Appliances

Did you know that appliances left on standby mode can be energy hogs, even though they’re not in use? In fact, the worst offending appliances, such as games consoles, can use almost as much energy in standby mode as they do when they’re in use. Think of the number of appliances in your home that could be continually using power 24 hours per day like TVs, stereo systems, chargers, cable boxes, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers—the list could go on and on. Instead of leaving your home appliances in standby mode all of the time, consider switching them completely off to see instant improvements. You can unplug/plug the item when you want to use it, or have a power cord with an on/off switch to make things easy! You’ll see long-term benefits by removing this unnecessary energy consumption.

  1. Invest in a Programmable Thermostat

Programmable thermostats are one of the simplest ways to cut your energy costs, plus they have the added bonuses of being affordable and easy to install! Adding a programmable thermostat to your home will help you reduce energy costs in a number of ways. The first is that it’ll let you program your heating so it’s only active when you or your family is home. Secondly, you’ll be able to set the temperature to automatically reduce at night. This doesn’t just lower energy consumption—research shows a cooler home may even improve your sleep!

  1. Switch to Energy Efficient Lighting Solutions

Lighting technology has dramatically improved over the last few years, and new lighting solutions, such as LED technology, now offer greatly improved efficiency over older lighting options like incandescent and fluorescent solutions. Easy changes like switching your existing bulbs to LED alternatives can reduce your lighting energy use by up to 75%. Don’t worry, this change isn’t expensive, and the LED bulbs will last for many years! There are also energy efficient fixture options so you can easily replace all lighting in your home.

 

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