The winter brings cold, short days, which means we use more energy. Whether it’s your holiday decorations or saving energy while you’re away from the house, here are a few creative ways that will save energy in the winter.
1. Go solar with your outdoor holiday decorations. Even big box stores like Sam’s and Cost-Co sell solar-powered outdoor Christmas decorations. All you have to do is set them up outside in the yard like you would any other outdoor decor and let the sun do the rest. Sure the light from them aren’t as vivid as electric decorations, but it achieves a very similar effect without cutting into your utility bill.
2. Get comfortable with DIY. You can add a thermal layer to windows yourself. Clear film is sold at any hardware store. If you aren’t sure how to do it, ask a sales associate for a quick overview or get online and pull up a video on YouTube. It’s easier than it looks (and it looks pretty darn easy) and results in a warmer home during the cold winter months because it blocks even the teeniest open cracks in a window.
3. Make use of the sun. The sun can bring a tremendous amount of warmth into a home, especially on the South end of the house or apartment. Opt for sheer drapes that the sun’s beams can easily get through or let in light by opening drapes and allowing the warm sun to fill your space.
4. Crank down the water heater. Cold nights make us crave hot baths and showers that last longer than usual. You can lower the temperature of your water heater, which is hardly noticeable for most families. Ultimately you use less energy and will be satisfied with a warm bath or shower versus a scorching hot one (which contributes to dry skin during cold winter months).
5. Use a weather strip for the bottom of doors. For the door that leads to the garage or the front door, check out weather strips to combat the draft that comes in. They are easy to apply to the bottom of doors and can significantly reduce the amount of cold air that comes in, especially in small spaces like an apartment.
6. Switch your light bulbs. The days are shorter in the winter, which means we spend more time with the lights on. To reduce energy, switch all of the lights you regularly use to light bulbs with an Energy Star rating. You may spend a little more on them initially, but they’ll last far longer and cost less to use. Nowadays there are numerous styles of compact fluorescent light bulbs for any light fixture in your home, so don’t worry about a bulb not fitting or looking awkward in a fixture.
7. Have a timer for holiday decorations and outdoor lights. Because it gets dark so early, many homes have outdoor lights to light the driveway or porch. Have these lights on timers. You can purchase and install movement sensitive timers that will kick on when the car pulls in to the drive way or the kids walk out onto the porch. It’s worth doing because it prevents the lights from staying on all night and also ensures the areas are lit when it matters most. Do the same with holiday decorations like outdoor Christmas lights are powered by electricity.
8. Install a thermostat you can program. This allows you to set timers for the temperature in your house. In the day when everyone is gone the house can stay cool and when just before it’s time for the kids to get home, you can set the heat to kick up a notch for a toasty welcome. You can also remember to lower the thermostat manually when you leave each day, but a programmable thermostat is easier to keep up with.
9. Go LED with your Christmas lights. For holiday lights that are powered by conventional means, go with LED lights. They use a whopping 90% less energy than traditional Christmas lights and are just as festive. They can be purchased almost anywhere that regular Christmas lights are sold, but for the biggest selection hit up a chain hardware store. They tend to have the most to choose from and are pushing LED lights in a big way this season.
10. Turn the heat down when you’re partying. If you’re hosting holiday parties and are accustomed to having a large number of people in your house, you know that more bodies means more heat. There’s no reason to have the house the regular temperature when you have a dozen extra people there. Turn the heat down so everyone is comfortable and also so you save energy and money.
11. Opt for rechargeable batteries for toys. When your kid gets a toy that calls for batteries, go for a set of rechargeable batteries versus buying a cheap set that will burn out quickly and need to be recycled. Not all recycling centers are equipped for batteries which make it tricky to get the job done and you don’t want your old batteries to end up in a landfill. You may think it’s just a few, but take the number of batteries your children’s toys go through a year and multiply that by the number of kids who have too much to play with in the U.S. Yep, that’s a lot of batteries in the junk yard.
12. Bake in batches. Why cook one cake at a time if you’ll only cook another in a few days? Your oven takes the same amount of energy to cook one baked good as it does an entire batch, so maximize your time and energy by baking in batches. Baked goods freeze well and can be defrosted a few hours before you want to consume them. Do the same when you’re heating food up. There’s no reason your veggies and meat can’t be warmed at the same time.
13. Unplug phantom electronics when heading out of town for the holidays. What are phantom products? These are the items that eat up energy even when they aren’t being used. This includes DVD players, chargers, printers and TVs. Add it to your checklist of things to do before leaving the house for a number of days to spend the holidays elsewhere.
It’s easy to save energy in the winter when you look around the house and see all the areas you’re probably wasting it. Remember to make everyone who lives in your house aware of the actions you’re taking to cut down on energy costs and conserve energy. Even your teenagers just might be listening, causing them to be more aware of their energy consumption throughout the entire year.
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This post is written by Andrea Contreras and she writer on her site project management training .