When the kids are home from school in the summer months, your home gets quite a workout during the day. In most cases, that means keeping the A/C on a lot more than you might otherwise in order to keep your family comfortable. Having kids at home also means more energy usage because of lights, TVs and toys. However, when the kids to back to school, you may be able to change the temperature in your home and reduce your energy bill considerably if you’re smart. Use this guide to help you understand back-to-school energy savings and how you can lower your bills when the kids head back to the classroom.
- Use a programmable thermostat to control the temperature inside your home. In the summer when everybody is at home during the day, you need the A/C to keep cool. However, when everybody goes back to school, you can turn the temperature up several degrees during those hot days at the end of the cooling season. Set it to return to a comfortable level before everyone gets home, with your programmable thermostat. Once the heating season take over, program the temperature several degrees lower during the day.
- Unplug the items that your kids aren’t using. Those videogame consoles and televisions that your kids were using will drain energy when plugged in but not in use.
- Keep the blinds closed in your kids’ rooms. The sunlight is essential when people are home, but when the kids go back to school, closing the blinds or pulling the drapes will help keep the house cooler. That might allow you to turn the A/C down so you can save money. Once the heating season starts, open the blinds during the afternoons to benefit from solar heat gain.
- Have your HVAC system checked at the end of summer and before the cool weather begins. You may not need your heater much in September, but getting it looked at now can help save you a lot of money when it’s time to turn it on. A qualified repair technician can pinpoint problems that could cost you in the future.
Please contact us at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing for more information about back-to-school energy savings. We proudly serve families and businesses in the greater Indianapolis area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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