How Can Solar Home Owners Conserve Energy?

Who doesn’t want to cut down their cost of living?

Whether it is the expenditure on food, accommodation, or luxuries, we want to save money on everything. When it comes to the electricity bill, the scenario is no different. One of the best ways to do that is by installing solar panels on your home. With the expenditure of each kilowatt of solar, it will let your utility bill reduce up to $0. There are even various service providers that can even let you end up with a negative electricity bill when you are having a solar home.

However, it is crucial to understand that you need to act smart to actually conserve energy while being an owner of a solar home.

What can you do?

Don’t keep your appliances plugged on

If you think that you’ve turned off the home appliances and that’s enough, it’s not right! There is a myriad of such electronic appliances which still use standby power when they are not in use. Whether it is a telephone charge, TV or computer, many such electronic gadgets work on this principle.

Although it seems to be an unused ‘phantom’ power, this comprises 75% of the electricity that is generally consumed by home appliances. Hence, when you think that you’re done with charging your phone or watching television, you should unplug that appliance completely.

Go for compact fluorescent light bulbs

Yes! CFL light bulbs are worth opting for! They consume 75% less electricity than its contemporaries. Also, when it comes to the longevity, it is ten times longer than the conventional ones. Although you’ve to pay a bit more in case of CFL lights it is certainly 100% worth it.

Buy energy efficient appliances

There are many EPA-approved Energy Start appliances in the market which use almost 10%-50% less electricity than the conventional home appliances. Hence, you can use them in your home and keep the monthly electricity bills low.

Get a smart thermostat

You might be lazy enough to switch it off but you don’t need your HVAC system working at its maximum power. Especially, when you are not at home or something like that. In this case, you can install a smart thermostat to help you out in every situation. You can program the climate control system in this gadget in such a way that it can regulate the inside temperature only when it is required.

Reduce hot water temperatures

Whether it is bathing, washing clothes or any other household activity, hot water should always have a temperature of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 °C). If the temperature of the water is any higher than this, your plumbing system will be hampered. Hence, you should always keep an eye on reducing the temperatures of the unnecessarily hot water.

Alter the energy use of daytime

When it’s daylight hours, your solar panels tend to operate at a peak performance. Hence, if it is possible, you should consider shifting all your energy dependent activities during early and late evenings.

Well, it might not be something directly related to an ‘energy-saving’ strategy. However, it is true that when you will sell more solar energy to the utility company when it’s day-time, your monthly electricity bills will go lower.

Do a proper insulation

To insulate your home is the easiest approach to cut down your electricity bills. It will make sure that the AC units in your home and furnace aren’t working for a prolonged period of time.

Plant trees nearby

If you want to boost up your insulation up to a huge extent, you can plant trees and shrubs on the lawn in front of your home. All that you need to do is just be strategic enough and sow some plants in about a 12” distance from the exterior of your home.

By doing that, you end up creating pockets of dead air spaces which can create a shield against both warm and cold temperatures.

Plug any existing leaks

Well, it is a fact that almost 50% of your home’s total energy consumption ends up in cooling and heating. If you think that your house has any unwanted leakage, it means that the thermostat in your living room is not only regulating the temperature of your house.

Rather, it is dealing with all over the environment outside. Unfortunately, you are paying for all that. Hence, it is required to take care that there is no any leak left out around your windows, doors or vents. While being smart in this case, you will end up saving a lot.

Hence, don’t be delayed any more! Just follow these tips in your day to day life and you will certainly end up saving your pocket on electricity bills like never before.