Don’t Sweat your Energy Costs This Summer

Summertime in the Washington, DC, area means high heat, high humidity and of course, high utility bills.

But there are steps you can take to at least mitigate the latter. 

These six tips come from Standard Energy Solution--a company offering solar and other energy solutions--to help you save money and energy during one of the peak energy usage periods:

• Inspect your home’s insulation. Locating and filling in leaks, gaps and holes where your home does not have insulation will help keep the cool air in and reduce the burden on your air conditioner.
• Switch to LED light bulbs. You may be thinking that light bulbs don’t give off that much heat, but a  traditional incandescent bulb can reach 180 degrees! LED bulbs, by contrast, run at about 90 degrees, and use less energy.
• Swap out your ancient thermostat for a programmable one. Not only will you have more precise control over the temperature, you can program your system to operate only when you are home. Many programmable thermostats also have a web component, allowing you to adjust the temperature remotely.
• See if your power company offers discounts, rebates or money saving programs. Pepco offers the Energy Wise Rewards program, where you can earn money back by allowing your air conditioner or heat pump to be cycled (the fan continues to move air, but the compressor shuts down) during peak usage times. BGE offers a similar program called PeakRewards.
• Consider solar. Solar panels operate at their best during summer months when the sun is at its highest, helping to counter the high summer utility bills.