Wild Money-Saving Tips For America’s Wildest Weather City
Did you know that Springfield is known as one of “America’s Wildest Weather Cities”? We’ve certainly earned that title these past few months! From warm and sunny one day to cold, dreary and snowing the next. Those cold days, when your furnace was working the hardest to keep your home warm, you used more utilities.
Never fear! There are low-cost and no-cost ways to save energy and money to get through the rest of the winter.
Wrap your water heater. An insulation blanket will help reduce heat loss through the tank walls, which is where most of your water heating energy dollars go.
Maintain your heating and cooling equipment. Check your filter every month and clean or change it if it looks dirty, especially during heavy use months in winter and summer. At a minimum, clean or change the filter every 3 months. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder to keep you warm or cool — wasting energy.
Adjust your thermostat. You can easily save energy by adjusting the thermostat when you’re away (or asleep). This strategy is effective and inexpensive if you are willing to adjust the thermostat by hand and wake up in a cooler house (68o or below). Make these changes easier by installing a programmable or smart thermostat.
Take advantage of the sun’s warmth. Open the shades during the day to let the light and heat in, and close them at night to help insulate your home.
Close vents and doors of unused rooms. Only heat or cool the rooms you need. Don’t close more than 40 percent of the vents as this can cause problems with your heating or cooling system.
Check the water heater temperature. Use a cooking thermometer to check the temperature of the hot water. Adjust the temperature on your water heater to the warm setting, which heats your water to 125 degrees.
Turn off everything not in use (lights, TVs, computers, etc.) and unplug any chargers when not in use.
