saving on electricity
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I just received an email notification from National Grid, our electricity provider, that our electric bill is about to jump over last year’s winter bill by 63%. SIXTY-THREE F’N PERCENT. Apparently, a combination of the global energy crisis, inflation, and energy supply constraints. My mind is blown. We have solar, but I know for people like my parents, who are on a fixed income, this increase is untenable. The really irritating part is that I doubt the National Grid CEO is taking a paycut. In fact, I believe he just got a raise this spring to $5.6M annually.
Our Nest thermostat adjusts temperatures as it learns our habits.
I’m very lucky that we can shift expenses and absorb this cost, but quite frankly, I don’t want to do that. I can think of a myriad of other things I’d rather spend that additional $114/month.
So what do you do?
Here’s a few immediate things, versus long-term things you can do to lower your monthly electric bill. Some are obvious, some might be things you haven’t thought of yet.
Short-term
We are in a 1960s house, so no matter what we do, it’s a bit “leaky”. This is great for those outlet plugs on external walls.
Turn off the lights. Obvious I know, but now I’m the mom-dad hybrid, running around the house shutting everything off, from lights, to TVs, to the electric piano. Turn it off.
Get a programmable thermostat. We have a Nest programmable thermostat. We have gas heat, but it’s forced hot air. A review of our monthly expenses show that January and February were the highest months for electric use. I imagine that is a combination of using the lights more, because it’s dark all the time, and having the heat kick in and blow constantly. It’s great because it learns from our behaviors and schedules to turn down the heat at night, crank it right before we get up, and really turn it down when we’re not in the house.
Dress warm. Because of my injury, I have depressed blood pressure, meaning I’m cold ALL THE TIME. I wear silk long underwear under my clothes and a coat if needed because I get cold sitting at the computer working remotely.
Cover those windows. If you live in a cold climate, unless you live in New construction, your house is leaky. No matter what. For your windows, you can either buy the plastic film that goes over them, or you can buy insulated window coverings. If you have curtains you love, you can opt to buy a double rod, and put the insulating panel behind your lovely curtains. I like this option, because on those weird 60-70 degree days we get in the winter, I like to be able to open the windows.
Put down area rugs. This really does help keep the room a bit warmer if all you have is wood floors. This is critical in our house because our house is on a slab, so there’s no basement to insulate or warm up. It keeps that cold air trapped underneath and keeps feet a bit warmer.
Buy surge protectors. A review of our electric usage showed electronics make up 85% of our eclectic usage. A lot of that is the printer, laptops, monitor, TVs, always drawing electricity all day and all night long. We added surge protectors to protect our electronics, but now we’re using the on/off switches to curtail all that extra energy draw.
Update your weather stripping. Check your outer doors' weather stripping to see if it needs replacement. We bought this at Lowes and it took my husband about 15 minutes to remove the old weatherstripping and replace it.
Buy an electric blanket. I have one because again, my circulation is terrible and I need it to keep me warm at night. The additional benefit is we can turn the heat down significantly at night because I’m toasty warm under my blanket. My husband and P are human furnaces so I’m not worried about them.
Put a timer on it. We have an outside driveway light that we installed a few years after we moved in. Otherwise the driveway is pitch black in the winter, and frankly was hard to see when trying to pull in the driveway or get my wheelchair back together. We added a new conduit and lamp post, but had the electrician add a timer so we can automatically turn it on at night and shut it off in the middle of the night when it’s no longer needed. We can change the timer with the seasons, so when we have longer summer days, we just shorten the time it’s on.
Mid- to Long-term solutions
Our solar panels installed by Invaleon. They are a great return on investment and save us $$$
Get an energy efficiency assessment. Massachusetts has MassSaves, and other states have similar programs. Staff will come and assess your house’s envelope for leaks, make suggestions on how to become more energy efficient and replace things like weather stripping and door sweeps at minimal to no cost. They’ll also provide information on insulation in your home. We had them come twice. The first time they added insulation into the attic and replaced the bathroom fans with more efficient models. The second time, they blew insulation into the walls from the outside by lifting the siding, drilling small holes and blowing it in that way. They patched the holes after and there was no damage from the outside. Perfect. They also provided rebates for a new energy efficient tankless water heater and furnace. We used their zero interest loan program to help cover the costs.
Look into solar. EnergySage is a great resource if you’re looking into solar along with the folks from your local energy efficiency assessment organization. MassSaves has a zero interest loan program to help cover the cost of things like solar and other items I mentioned in #1 above. One note: Be sure your roof is in good condition. A reputable company will not put solar on an old roof, but not all companies are reputable. Be sure your roof has at least 20 years left before installing solar.
Look into new siding. Our siding was ancient and crumbling when we moved into the house. It offered no insulation whatsoever. Our new siding has more than an inch of insulating foam core, adding a nice layer between the outside and the inside. We used O’Sullivan Installs and they are great! They installed Alside vinyl siding and it will outlive us with no maintenance.
I hope some of these ideas help you make it through this winter with a little less pain from your electric bill and maybe a few ideas on how to curb your energy use in the future.
