How to Save On Your Electric Bill This Summer in Texas
Summer in Texas is the season of long sunny days spent at the pool, family vacations and quality time spent in the air-conditioned comfort of your home. Yet the hotter it gets, the more expensive your electricity bill becomes. This happens because your air conditioner must work around the clock to keep your home cool, which can drive up your electricity use and cost. Fortunately, there are many ways you can conserve energy in the summer without sacrificing your day-to-day comfort. Follow these electricity-saving tips to get started.
Run your thermostat at 78 degrees
Texas summers are undoubtedly hot. For many, the only respite they have from the heat is the invitingly cool air generated by their home’s air conditioner. As tempting as it is to crank up your air conditioner on a hot summer afternoon, doing so may be driving up your electricity bill. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, air conditioning and space heating make up an average of 32% of your annual energy use. The harder your air conditioner must work to cool your home, the more electricity it uses and the higher your bill will be in turn.
One of the most effective ways to reduce your electricity bill in the summer is to avoid running your air conditioner throughout the day. Setting your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher can cut down on your electricity use. According to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, every degree of extra cooling increases electricity consumption by six to eight percent. To keep your home comfortable, use ceiling fans to circulate cool air, close interior blinds or drapes to avoid heat gain from the sunlight and wear lighter clothing. You can magnify your impact by raising your thermostat to 80 degrees if you are leaving your home for more than four hours. Doing so will help you avoid using electricity to cool an empty house. Regardless of the time of day, ensure your thermostat is set to auto so it isn’t running continuously.
Managing your cooling settings with a traditional thermostat is straightforward. However, a smart thermostat offers additional convenience features that go a step further in helping you reduce your electricity consumption. Some provide data on how much energy your air conditioner is using as well as allowing you to control your thermostat remotely via your smartphone.
The hotter it gets in the summer, the more electricity your air conditioner must use to cool your home. Turning your thermostat up to the highest comfortable setting for you can have a big impact on your electricity bill.
Service your air conditioner
Even if you have the optimal thermostat settings, your air conditioner will still use a significant amount of electricity in the summer. To mitigate any additional preventable electricity use, get your air conditioner serviced by a qualified technician. A routine inspection may identify issues with your air conditioner that could lead to inefficiencies, including clogged air filters or drain lines, air leaks in your ductwork and dirty capacitors and condenser coils. All these issues can make your air conditioner work harder than it needs to, requiring it to use more power than necessary. An inspection may also reveal if your compressor is drawing too many amps, which can also lead to greater energy use and a worn-out compressor that may be expensive to replace.
Even something as basic as replacing your air conditioner’s air filter once every three months can make a big difference. Keeping your filter clean can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by five to 15 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Air conditioners require consistent maintenance to perform at their best. Having your unit serviced may reduce your electricity bill while also helping you sidestep any unexpected issues during the hottest time of the year.
Switch fan blades to run counterclockwise
Easily overlooked, our ceiling fans just might be one of our greatest allies in keeping our homes comfortable. However, did you know that the direction your ceiling fan spins matters? Most ceiling fans allow you to pick between clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. When set to spin counterclockwise, a ceiling fan will push cool air down, making the room feel colder. If it’s spinning clockwise, a fan creates an updraft that circulates warm air through a room. As such, setting your fans to counterclockwise rotation and running them at their highest speed can let you increase your thermostat settings by as much as four degrees.
To check if your fan is rotating in the right direction, stand underneath it and watch to see if the blades are spinning counterclockwise. If they are, you should feel a downdraft of cool air. To change the settings, stop the fan and locate the switch on the unit above the blades. Remember to only run your ceiling fans in the rooms that you are in. Turning them off when you leave can help maximize your energy savings.
Check your insulation
If you have higher-than-expected electricity bills or notice that the temperature feels different from one room to the next, your home may not have enough insulation. That is not unusual. According to ENERGY STAR, 90 percent of all homes in the United States are under-insulated. Having the right amount of insulation is key to maintaining an even temperature throughout your home. Insulation prevents the heat from your attic from warming your home. Without a thick enough layer of insulation, your home’s baseline temperature will be higher, which will make your air conditioner use more electricity to cool it.
To see if you need to add insulation, climb into your attic and look to see if your current insulation levels are below or level with the joists. According to ENERGY STAR, you likely have enough if your joists are covered in insulation. For a more precise look at your insulation level, measure the depth in inches and follow ENERGY STAR’s formulas to determine your R-value. The recommended R-value range for uninsulated attics in most of Texas is from R30 to R60. Going over R60 may not provide any additional protection and may cause other issues, including humidity accumulation in your attic that may cause mold growth.
Adding insulation is often something you can do yourself by renting an insulation blower and buying the loose fiberglass insulation at your local home improvement store. But if you aren't sure about doing it yourself or if you have a big job, consider hiring a contractor. Ensuring your home is adequately insulated and sealing air leaks may save up to 15 percent on your heating and cooling costs.
Run your major appliances at night
Cooking and washing clothes are likely part of your daily routine. But if you’re drying your laundry or sautéing on your stovetop during the hottest part of the day, you may be making your air conditioner use even more electricity to cool your home. Running your dryer or using your oven or stovetop creates heat that your air conditioner must counterbalance to maintain the temperature set on the thermostat. Avoid this by waiting until nighttime, when the outside air is cooler, to take on these tasks. This can help you save electricity by not taxing your air conditioning system. In this case, timing is everything.
Invest in blackout curtains or solar shades
Abundant sunlight can bring a room to life. During a Texas summer, however, the sun’s intense glare can drive up a room’s temperature and make your air conditioner run harder to cool the air. This is called solar heat gain, which is defined by the amount of solar radiation admitted through a window or skylight that is released as heat. One of the most effective ways to counteract solar heat gain is by keeping your windows covered during the hottest times of the day. From blackout curtains to solar shades, many kinds of window coverings can reduce heat gain and potentially cut your electricity consumption. Insulated cellular shades are often considered to be the most effective at reducing heat gain as they typically have the highest R-value, while window quilts provide a good alternative due to their thicker material and snug fit against the trim of the window. Fabric curtains and drapes can work as well, although the effectiveness depends on the color and type of fabric. For example, medium-color drapes with white plastic backings can decrease heat gain by as much as 33 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Keep your pool’s filter clean
There’s nothing better than diving into a cool swimming pool on a hot summer’s day. But if you aren’t maintaining your pool pump’s filter, your swimming pool may be using a lot more electricity than necessary. Filters keep your pool clean and you will likely be running water through your filtration system once a day in the summer. Pool pumps already use a considerable amount of electricity (1 kWh of electricity per hour), but a dirty filter may nearly double its energy usage. To maintain your filtration system, skim and vacuum your pool often and change out your filter cartridge when the pressure on your gauge reaches 8 to 10 PSI above the standard starting pressure. Keep your pool and filter cartridge clean and you’ll reduce the amount of electricity needed for your pool pump to run.
Schedule a home energy audit
How can you make your home more energy efficient? What do you need to prioritize to maximize your potential energy savings? It may be difficult to answer these questions if you aren’t a home improvement expert. That’s where a professional home energy assessment can provide the clarity you need to take the next step. Most audits include an analysis of your past electricity bills to understand your home’s consumption, an interview to see how you’re using electricity and an exterior and interior inspection.
Throughout, the auditor will look for air, water and fuel leaks, the thermostat setting on your water heater, electrical hazards, vent fan flow rate and issues with your duct system and dryer vent. Auditors will then compile their findings into a detailed report. Making the upgrades identified in the audit can save you from five to 30 percent on your monthly electricity bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Other summer energy saving tips
There’s not just one step to reducing your electricity use this summer. Making a change requires a holistic approach and everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, there are many other strategies you can follow that may help you use less power, including:
Close air conditioning vents in unused rooms.
Replace incandescent lights with LED lights, which use 75 percent less energy and last up to 25 times longer.
Seal cracks in your windows and doors to keep cold air in and the heat out.
Wash full loads of dishes and clothes, clean your dryer’s lint trap after every cycle and avoid running your dryer more than once per load.
Consider using a clothesline to dry your clothes.
Cook outside, when possible, to avoid adding more heat into your home.
Unplug laptops and computers, TVs, gaming systems and device chargers. These are known as “energy vampires” because they use electricity even if the devices themselves aren’t in use. Vampire energy usage makes up 10% of electricity consumed in homes, according to MarketWatch.
Check your electricity plan
Your electricity plan may not affect how much electricity you use, but it does determine how you’re billed. This can have a significant impact on your monthly cost of electricity. Reach out to your Retail Electricity Provider to see what kind of plan you currently have. The cost per kWh of electricity is often at a premium in the summer due to demand. If you currently have a month-to-month plan without a fixed rate you could be paying a higher rate than average.
If that’s the case, consider switching to a standard fixed-rate plan that provides a secure rate that won’t change based on market conditions. Free Nights and Free Weekends plans offer an alternative that may work for your needs as well. Each affords minimal energy charges during certain hours or days and a fixed rate at all other times. Shifting the bulk of your electricity usage to these hours can help you save, regardless of the season.
Do you need to make the switch? We have a variety of electricity plans to meet you where you are on your energy journey. From standard to 100 percent renewable electricity plans, you can help power the things you love the way you want with Shell Energy. Find out more about our electricity plans here.
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