Are you searching the web for “Ways To Lower Your Power Bill” like most Arizona residents? When the temperatures start to go up, so do the electricity bills. Keeping your home comfortable costs more during the summer, but there are ways to help minimize that effect.
Ways To Save Energy & Money
Everyone loves saving money, especially on recurring bills. We are always looking for ‘life hacks’ that can help boost the efficiency of living our lives while lowering the cost it carries. In our search for methods to reduce our power bills many simple tactics are easily overlooked and never taken advantage of. We are going to briefly outline 3 of these tactics that can help you up the efficiency of your home while lowering the amount of money you are spending on it to keep all systems running, so to speak.
Inspect Your Home’s Insulation
Make sure that all of the insulation in your home was up to, or even exceeding standards. As time passes insulation breaks down and experiences a drop in efficiency. The speed of the deterioration depends on several things, including the climate and exposure to moisture.
Unplug Unused Electronics
Unplug appliances and devices that may leach power while on standby mode. While we are led to believe that these electronic devices and appliances turn off when we stop using them. This is rarely the case and the combination of all appliances that are ‘secretly’ consuming power adds up to needless money spent. That money can do a lot of good for you instead of just disappearing.
Get A Professional Energy Audit
Have an energy audit performed on your home by a professional. Having a trained eye assess your home will not only arm you with the information and tactics you need to increase the efficiency of your home, it will also provide you with peace of mind because you won’t wonder if you missed anything in your own untrained assessment.
Take Care Of Crawlspaces
Make sure our crawl spaces are well maintained and not left open and therefore exposed. If the openings to your crawl spaces are exposed cold air can enter in the winter and warm air in the summer. Some wonder if the answer is sealing off their crawl spaces completely from the outdoors and the answer is yes, if you do so with a crawl space encapsulation system. If you don’t have a crawl space encapsulation system, then sealing off your crawl spaces in the winter months is recommended.
Control Moisture in Crawlspaces
Make sure the moisture levels in your crawl space are at reasonable levels. This can be done by installing small moisture meters and checking them periodically. Not all crawl spaces are easily accessible and if that is the case a professional should be called in to inspect them. Ideally the moisture level within your crawl spaces should be below 50%.
Check Insulation in the Crawlspace
Check the condition of the insulation in your crawl space. Over time the buildup of moisture can cause the insulation to become saturated and, by extension, inefficient. Saturated insulation in your crawl space will cause your home to experience a definite drop in energy efficiency. Mold growth can also be a problem in crawl spaces that are overly saturated with moisture.
Invest In Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
Increasing the energy efficiency of your home is never a bad thing and will almost always save you a significant amount of money over the long haul. Have your home put through an energy audit and see where you can afford to make improvements! If you would like more information or help inspecting and improving your home insulation in the Phoenix area, please contact Barrier Insulation today by calling either 602-499-2922 or .