How to Reduce Your Energy Bills

May 9, 2018

Saving energy isn’t a new “trend”. Homeowners have been focused on cutting energy costs for a long time, but environmental concerns have pushed it to an even bigger priority. Your home should also make an effort to contribute to the cause. McGuinn Homes’ energy efficient homes are providing more energy-saving advantages to our homeowners. If you’re wondering how to reduce your energy bills, here are some of the tips we’ve found very useful. Sweat the small stuff. Did you know that a 60-watt incandescent bulb uses about $2.20 in electricity per month, when used daily? Compare that to an LED bulb, which costs about 14 cents per month. Multiply those costs by the number of bulbs in your home. Even though LED bulbs are more expensive, they last longer and the energy savings will give you a solid return on your investment. Purge the phantom. Did you know that many electrical appliances and electronics use energy even when they’re turned off? It’s called phantom power (also known as standby power and idle current). Your coffeemaker, printer, toaster, and phone or computer charger are still devouring energy when you’re not using them. This phantom energy accounts for about 10% of your total annual energy consumption. Your inkjet printer uses more than half as much energy when it’s turned off as when it’s on. A DVR uses about the same amount of energy as long as it’s plugged in, whether it’s on or not. If a power cord has a little black box, that’s a transformer that is always hungry for energy. Unplug the cords of anything not in use and check your electric bill after a month. Get smarter with your technology. A smart thermostat lets you control the temperature in your home, even when you’re not there. By reducing the temperature even a few degrees while you’re sleeping or away, you can gain significant energy savings. Stop wasting water. This is an obvious one, but still overlooked. The average household uses about 90 gallons of water daily. Most of it is flushed down the toilet and used in the shower. A low-flow toilet cuts the water usage almost in half, saving an average of 13,000 gallons of water per year. A water-saving showerhead saves even more. An ENERGY STAR dishwasher uses an average of 6 gallons per use, while a non-ENERGY STAR dishwasher uses about 16 gallons. Switch to tankless. Your home’s water heater spends about three hours a day heating up the water for your household use. Even if you’re not running the water, the heater is still keeping your water warm. A tankless water heater doesn’t store water. It heats your water when you need it, giving you a steady flow of warm or hot water. If you’ve ever tried to fill a soaking tub with warm water, only to get halfway before you run out, you will appreciate the value of this on-demand, tankless water heater solution. Give yourself a STAR. Major appliances, like your refrigerator, clothes washer, and dryer, account for a hefty portion of your monthly electric bill. When you invest in an ENERGY STAR product, you’ll see the estimated annual savings right on the tag. These appliances don’t compromise performance to reduce energy. They’re just smarter. McGuinn Homes designs and builds every single-family home with the latest environmentally friendly technology, materials, methods, and products. Take a look at our “green features” and our energy-efficient homes and communities through the Columbia, South Carolina, area. Then talk to us to move to a home that’s as committed to energy savings as you are.