Money and Energy Saving Hacks for Heating/Cooling Your Home

Money and Energy Saving Hacks for Heating/Cooling Your Home

Your home is where you spend most of your time, and you want it to be heated and cooled comfortably each season. But, the energy costs of heating and cooling your home can add up quickly! Luckily, there are a few simple steps that you can take to save money on heating and cooling your home!

Keep Your Drapes Closed

The first money-saving tip for keeping your home cool is to close your drapes! It may seem obvious, but the sun shining through the windows heats up your home during the spring and summer months when you want to keep it cool. So, close your drapes and invest in drapes or curtains that block the sun’s rays and help to keep your home cool inside. Drapes that block the sun can also help you sleep soundly because they block other forms of light pollution from street lights, car lights, and lights shining in from other people’s homes! You can save money, keep your home cooler, and have more privacy!

Use a Fan to Cool Your Home

This next hack is one of the simplest things that you can do to save money on cooling your home! You can use a fan to keep the rooms in your home cool. If you don’t have a central heating and air conditioning system, this is an especially useful way to cool your home. If you do have a central air conditioning system, you can turn the A/C down a notch and save money by using the fans.

There are a variety of fans available that you can use around your home. You can use counter top fans or personal-sized fans, or you can use a fan large enough to cool an entire room. Lasko carries different types of fans for you to choose from. They also have tips on their website to help you choose the right fan!

You can use a fan to cool large or small spaces in your home, and they use much less energy than cooling your entire home. In addition to a room fan, you can also use a ceiling fan to keep air circulating and keep people in your home cool and comfortable.

Most homes already have ceiling fans or pre-wiring for ceiling fans installed. But, if you don’t already have ceiling fans in your home, consider installing them in the most frequently used rooms around your home, like your living room and your bedrooms.

Go Green

You can save money when heating and cooling your home by going green! There are lots of different ways that you can make your home more eco-friendly. You can heat and cool your home in an eco-friendly way by utilizing solar energy.

Solar energy is energy from the sun. You can install solar panels in your home that are covert the sun’s energy into electricity. Your home will be more eco-friendly and you can cut down on the costs of your utility bills.

Insulate Your Home

A simple step that you can take to save to keep your home warm during the winter is to properly insulate your home. The best way to insulate your home is to make sure that insulation materials are installed in the walls of your home to help trap heat in when you heat your home, and block heat out when you want to cool your home.

But there are a few other simple steps you can take to close any gaps in your home, especially during the winter months.

You can use caulk to seal any gaps between the windows and the window sills. These small gaps, when left unsealed, allow cold air in during the winter months, and they allow heat to escape. By caulking and sealing these gaps, you can conserve energy and save money!

Another area to block is the gap between each doorway. The small gaps between the entryway and the door can let air in and out of your home, wasting energy. You can use door draft stoppers available from hardware stores and online stores to block drafts. As a bonus, these draft stoppers also keep out unwanted pests!

Replace Your Windows

It helps a lot to seal gaps in between window sills and doorways, but windows themselves also let air in and out. You can replace old windows with energy-efficient windows and skylights that reduce heat gain and heat loss. This simple fix can reduce heat gain and loss by 25-30%!

To get started, check to see what type of windows you currently have installed. Next, check their energy-efficiency rating. If they don’t make the cut, start researching the costs to install new windows. Remember, you don’t have to replace all of the windows in your home all at once. You can start by replacing one or two windows each season until your home has all energy-efficient windows.

You will have to invest money up front, but you will save money over time by reducing the costs of your energy bills! Check out these additional tips for making eco-friendly upgrades to your home.

Adjust the Thermostat

One of the easiest ways that you can save money when heating and cooling your home is to use a programmable thermostat. Honeywell makes a programmable thermostat that comes with an app you can use to remotely control your home’s temperature.

This helps you save money because you can adjust the temperature when you are not home or preset the thermostat to reduce or increase the air or heat in your home automatically. You can come home to a warm or cool home without wasting energy throughout the day.

There are also other brands of programmable thermostats available, and other fun gadgets to help you automate your home.

Get Started Today

You can start using these simple money and energy-saving tips any time of the year. Start today by making a few changes, and over time you will notice a difference as you use less energy and save more money when you heat and cool your home.

Article written for WhosGreenOnline.com by: Mollie Wilson, a freelance writer from North Carolina. When she is not writing, she is perusing an adventurous life- backpacking, climbing, exploring local coffee shops, and traveling.