Energy Saving Tips for the Holidays

Winter is right around the corner, and with it, the promise of cold weather and higher heating bills. While we enjoy the “Christmas” weather around the holidays, the extra costs in our monthly utilities is not so welcome. Because of that, we thought we would share some energy saving tips for the holidays and winter months.

If you are anything like your favorite Gainesville, Ga., home remodeling professional (also known as Tracy Tesmer!), you are already feeling the bite of “Old Man Winter” and may have begun turning up that HVAC system to keep your home warm and toasty. If the weather gurus are correct – and the early winter weather is a sign of things to come – we are due for a particularly cold next couple of months. Follow our steps below to help reduce energy bills and leave more money in your pocket for the holiday season!

Winter Energy Saving Tips

One simple step you can do to save on your monthly energy bills is to adjust the temperature on your thermostat. If you are awake and around your home, change the temperature to the lowest comfortable setting. If you leave the home or go to bed for the night, adjust the thermostat by 10 degrees before you do so.

This will help decrease your energy costs by up to 10 percent each year and you will hardly notice the difference. If you have trouble remembering to adjust your thermostat, you can try installing a programmable thermostat.

Another simple step you can take to heat up your house for free is to simply open the curtains on your windows during the day time and close them at night. This a great way to let warmth into your home and add a little extra lighting as well.

If you frequent our blog posts or are a listener of The Home Improvement Show, then it should come as no surprise that our next energy saving tip is to make sure you perform maintenance on your HVAC unit and get your heating system tuned-up – not only as we head into winter, but on a regular basis as well.

HVAC tune-ups help in several different ways. For starters, they help keep your system running smoothly, so that it functions properly and keeps you warm when you need it the most. It also prevents your unit from becoming an energy hog, as poorly maintained units tend to require more electricity to run. Finally, the last thing you want is to have your HVAC system crash during a winter storm. This is usually a very busy time for the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning profession, and the odds of your local HVAC service being backed-up when a storm hits are pretty high. Don’t get left in the lurch – get your system checked out ahead of the winter rush!

Our final suggestion for lowering your heating costs during the cold season is also a step you can take that won’t cost you a penny: run your ceiling fans in reverse. By their very nature, ceiling fans do not heat a room (or even cool one). When running in normal mode, they simply circulate the air in a space. When set to run counter-clockwise, however, they suck the warm air up, allowing the cooler air to settle into the room, making it more comfortable for you and your family.

By running your ceiling fans in reverse – and maybe grabbing a sweater – you can resist the urge to raise the temperature on your thermostat – saving you money and keeping you warm at the same time!