Save Energy and Money with These 5 Tips and Wind Power

March 10, 2010 by Tony Tedbos
Filed under Renewable Energy

Following you will find 5 tips to help reduce your utility bill year round with or without the use of wind power. Hopefully these will help you to make ends meet, especially for those who are already unemployed or fear unemployment is a round the corner.

1. This one thing many over look and should not because it can reduce your power bill considerably. Furnace and a/c maintenance, which can save you money in several ways. First, by having them maintained yearly it will prolong there life thus saving you from a costly replacement bill. Second, it will keep them in top running condition which, will keep them more energy efficient saving you money. Besides having the furnace and a/c serviced regularly, be sure you change the filter every month even if does not look dirty. A dirty filter even if it does not appear to be dirty, will cause the units to work harder cutting down on their efficiency.

2. To help save on your power bill you can turn your thermostat down in the winter when you leave for work and back up again when you get home. If you constantly find yourself forgetting to do this then, you may want to consider replacing your manual thermostat with a programmable one that can be programmed to lower the temperature at a certain time then, raise it, again at a certain time, this way you won’t need to remember to do manually. Whether you do it manually or use a programmable thermostat, the one thing you do not want to do is use extremely low temperatures in inter or extremely high temperatures in summer, as this will cause your furnace or a/c to run excessively to return the house back to a comfortable temperature, thus defeating the purpose.

3. The following can be done in a matter of hours with a few inexpensive things you will need to pick up at your local hardware store. You will need a few tubes of caulking (how many will depend on how many exterior doors and windows you have) and some foam gaskets that are used to seal outdoor outlets and switches. (again how many will depend on how many outlets and switches you have located on exterior walls) Once you have these items start by caulking around all exterior doors and windows to seal air leaks then, remove all the covers on switches and outlets that are located on exterior walls, place a gasket over the switch or outlet, replace the cover, and trim the excess off with a utility knife. The more air leaks you seal the more you will save.

4. If you have a wood burning fireplace and use it frequently in the winter to cut down on the power bill that is a great way to save. However, and this is more of a precautionary tip than savings tip, there are dangers you should know about, like the fact that if you use the fireplace a lot, you will get a creosote build up that is very flammable. If you do not have the chimney cleaned yearly, you run the risk of chimney fires. Another thing to watch for, is the screen and cap on the top of the chimney, if either is damaged or missing get it fixed as soon as possible. Birds sit on chimneys for warmth and it is not uncommon for them to become overcome by the fumes causing them to fall into the chimney, and that can cause smoke and fumes to back up into the house.

5. Using wind power to cut the power bill makes sense because, with the technology of today, you can build a roof mounted wind mill for three hundred dollars or less. You can cut you power bill in half or more, depending on how much wind you get, obviously the more wind, the more power is produced, and the less power you will need to buy from the power company. So, when trying to reduce your power bill, consider wind power as a way to cut it in half or more.

With the cost of living rising every day and threat of losing your job, it becomes more important to use wind power to reduce your utility bill. Click here to discover affordable ways to use renewable energy sources.

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