Imagine this: you come home after a long, busy day. On your way into the house, you pick up the mail from the mailbox, and rummage through the letters until you pick out your utility bill. As you begin to open it, you start thinking about all the energy you've spent in the last month, how often you ran your AC, how often you left the refrigerator door open, how many lights you forgot to turn off...
When you finally open up your utility bill, are you paying a number you feel happy with? Do you feel that you are sacrificing home comfort for a lower utility bill?
At Green ID, we offer home energy audits to help homeowners save money and improve comfort to the fullest extent. But there's more you can do on your own! Here are 5 tips to help save energy in one of the most important rooms in any home: the bedroom!
1. Turn off lights and electronics before bed
You might think it’s convenient to charge your phone and laptop while you sleep, but often it only takes a few hours to fully charge most of your electronics- meaning the rest of the night, your electronics are just wasting energy.
Make sure you turn all of your lights off before bed, too. If you like to keep lights on while you sleep, you can invest in a multitude of helpful products like night lights, energy efficient bulbs, or timers, so that you never use more energy than you need to.
2. Keep closet doors closed
Your AC unit works harder to keep bigger areas cool, and keeping your closet door open adds extra square footage to your room that your AC will try to cool. A bedroom closet almost never requires cooling, so close those doors and feel your bedroom start to cool down faster!
3. Keep curtains closed
A huge portion of a home’s heat gain comes from the windows. Use window treatments such as sun shades, window film, or heavy curtains to block out sunlight and help keep your room cooler.
4. Clear the area around air vents
Air vents and registers aren’t able to efficiently push air around the room if they are blocked. Locate all of your vents and make sure they are clear of furniture, curtains, and other objects for 12 inches on all sides.
5. Use the ceiling fan
A ceiling fan can make your bedroom feel up to 4-6 degrees cooler without ever turning on the AC. Just make sure to turn it off when you leave! Fans create a wind chill effect, meaning they are able to cool down people, not rooms.
When you finally open up your utility bill, are you paying a number you feel happy with? Do you feel that you are sacrificing home comfort for a lower utility bill?
At Green ID, we offer home energy audits to help homeowners save money and improve comfort to the fullest extent. But there's more you can do on your own! Here are 5 tips to help save energy in one of the most important rooms in any home: the bedroom!
1. Turn off lights and electronics before bed
You might think it’s convenient to charge your phone and laptop while you sleep, but often it only takes a few hours to fully charge most of your electronics- meaning the rest of the night, your electronics are just wasting energy.
Make sure you turn all of your lights off before bed, too. If you like to keep lights on while you sleep, you can invest in a multitude of helpful products like night lights, energy efficient bulbs, or timers, so that you never use more energy than you need to.
2. Keep closet doors closed
Your AC unit works harder to keep bigger areas cool, and keeping your closet door open adds extra square footage to your room that your AC will try to cool. A bedroom closet almost never requires cooling, so close those doors and feel your bedroom start to cool down faster!
3. Keep curtains closed
A huge portion of a home’s heat gain comes from the windows. Use window treatments such as sun shades, window film, or heavy curtains to block out sunlight and help keep your room cooler.
4. Clear the area around air vents
Air vents and registers aren’t able to efficiently push air around the room if they are blocked. Locate all of your vents and make sure they are clear of furniture, curtains, and other objects for 12 inches on all sides.
5. Use the ceiling fan
A ceiling fan can make your bedroom feel up to 4-6 degrees cooler without ever turning on the AC. Just make sure to turn it off when you leave! Fans create a wind chill effect, meaning they are able to cool down people, not rooms.
