After several recent mild days we’re back in the deep freeze and that means more energy is being used to keep our homes warm. Brandy Johnson is a community affairs manager for Black Hills Energy and says taking some simple steps, like checking your furnace filter, can make a difference.
“Make sure it’s clean, make sure it’s installed properly and facing the right direction.” She also advises setting your thermostat to 68 degrees and reduce it 2 to 3 degrees while you’re away from home or sleeping.
Other energy saving tips include:
- Lower your water heater setting – Lowering your temperature setting a few degrees can also save energy. Reducing your water heater temperature to under 120 degrees can save you up to 10% on your water heater costs.
- Limit laundry and household chores – That’s right…hold on chores until later in the week! But if you must do laundry or wash dishes, consider strategies for using energy efficiently. For example, run complete loads vs. smaller, partial loads of laundry to avoid using more hot water than necessary. If you’re using the dishwasher, change the settings to air dry.
- Multitask when cooking – Cooking with the family can be a fun way to pass the time but also a source of higher-than-normal energy use. If you plan on cooking multiple dishes or tasty treats, bake as many as you can at the same time. Take advantage of the energy that goes into heating up the oven fewer times to use less energy.
- Keep the warm air in – Use kitchen, bath and other ventilating fans only as needed. In just one hour, these fans can exhaust a house full of warmed air.
- Not using it? Unplug it – Unplug office equipment like printers, shredders, scanners, and other household appliances, like your coffee maker, to prevent them from pulling energy when not in use.
- Check your furnace filter – Make sure your furnace filter is clean and properly installed facing the correct direction.
- Let the sun do the work – Open blinds on all south-facing windows to let the sun naturally heat your home during the day. Particularly for those spending more time at home today, this prevents you from having to run the heat 24/7 and will save you from having to turn on additional lights.
Customers can find winter weather updates, energy conservation and billing resources at: www.blackhillsenergy.com/winter-ready.