Tips to make your home more cozy, energy efficient against winter’s chill
When the cold winds blow, nothing is as nice as being inside your toasty warm home – and knowing that it will stay that way. It’s not too late to prepare for the wintry blast with this energy efficient advice.
Delight in a Warm and Cozy Home
These tips from Alabama Power energy experts will allow you and your family to enjoy the pleasures of home despite the cold weather, and take the savings to the bank.
A crackling fire in the fireplace is warm and welcoming, but fireplaces can allow a lot of heated air to escape up the chimney. A fireplace designed to provide heat eliminates the problem through a draft, which supplies the fire with outside air, instead of air from the room.
Step into more savings with these easy changes:
- Place the ceiling fan in reverse to distribute heated air from the ceiling to the room’s occupied areas.
- Prevent furniture, draperies or doors from blocking heating outlets or return air registers.
- On sunny days, leave curtains open to allow sunlight in, so the home will absorb the heat. Close the curtains on the shaded side of the house and at night.
- Use an electric blanket when sleeping, rather than heat the entire house all night.
- Set the thermostat at 68°F or lower, then forget it. Remind teens not to touch the thermostat. If you often reset the temperature during the day, you’re more likely to waste energy.
- Replace your air filter every month, especially during the winter and summer, when your HVAC unit gets the most use. When that clogged air filter is working harder, more energy is used. And when it requires more energy to make your heating system work, it causes your energy bill to increase.
- Add attic insulation. While many older homes don’t have enough insulation, you can add the material to any house. A “do-it-yourself” project to add attic insulation can save up to 30 percent on heating and cooling.
- Plug any gaps between windows and doors with caulk or other material; collectively, these can add up to big energy losses. You can significantly lower home heating costs by adding weather-stripping and proper insulation in the attic and in crawl spaces.
- Take advantage of a secret most people don’t know: The water heater is your home’s second-largest energy user, up to 25 percent of energy consumed. Turn down your water heater to 120 degrees, which is also safer for children and provides comfortable water for most uses. Create a water-heating bonus by using an insulating blanket around your hot water heater. The thicker the insulation, the more energy you’ll save.
See Alabama Power’s Web site for an EZ Energy Checkup
To get that warm feeling in your wallet, find out which parts of the home use the most energy.
A home energy audit will pinpoint those areas and suggest the most effective measures for cutting energy costs. To conduct a simple home energy audit, contact Alabama Power at 205-257-1000 or click on the company’s Web site at www.alabamapower.com. Opt for the “Full Checkup” or the five-minute “EZ Check Up.” The system creates an energy profile for your home, using your ZIP code to make the proper climate calculations.
The site calculates options to use in lowering your monthly bill, and the energy calculator estimates how much energy it takes to operate electronics and appliances. The Energy Checkup Report gives detailed information about your home energy consumption and recommends ways to reduce energy use.
Call 1-800-245-2244 to reach an energy expert. Alabama Power Customer Service works 24/7 to answer your questions. No matter what time – day or night – a real person is a phone call away.