Thursday 20 June 2013

Saving Energy Via Thermostat Settings

By Lana Bray


Saving energy is so important today, we need to make as much an effort as possible. One of the biggest domestic uses of energy is the heating and cooling of homes. We need to reduce our use of non-renewable sources of energy and controlling these two factors by taking greater care of your thermostat settings will be of major help.

Setting your heat lower at night can be a big energy saver. Any setting around 65 degrees should be just fine, as most of us sleep with blankets. Heat rises, and as bedrooms tend to be on upper floors, they have been heated during the day, and will cool much more slowly than lower levels. If someone is ill, or elderly, then a higher temperature may be necessary.

If you use air conditioning during the summer months, try not to turn it on too early. Unless the temperature outside rises above 78 degree you should not really need to have your air conditioning going. Remember that it uses a great deal of energy, which not only hurts us environmentally. It also hurts your wallet as well.

It is also a great idea during nicer times in the spring and summer, to open you house up to the fresh air. Do not just keep the air conditioning going all the time. Shut it down when it is not absolutely needed. You house will feel better and the air will be fresher if you open the windows and doors on pleasant days and evenings.

Humidity is a great problem in many places and it will make us feel the heat more intensely. One way to reduce the humidity in your home is to have a dehumidifier. This will reduce the humidity and allow you to set the air conditioning at a higher temperature. Although the dehumidifier uses energy, it also creates distilled water, which is great for watering the plants inside and out.

Many apartment buildings do not turn off the heat until June 1st in the colder climates. They also tend to keep the temperature very high, so high that many of us need to open windows even on the coldest of days. In these situations, it is a good idea to get a group of tenants together to ask the property owner to turn down the heat or to have individual temperature control devices added to each apartment. Although this may be expensive to start with, it will save a good deal of energy over the long run.

There is a wonderful tool, which can be installed in multi home buildings, which will regulate the heat in tiny amounts during the peak hours of energy usage. For example, the heat may be reduced in common areas when the dinner hour arrives and people are using their ovens and other cooking appliances. Spreading the heat more evenly over the buildings is also a feature of this tool. It significantly helps save energy, and money.

To summarize, these are just a few suggestions of ways to reduce energy use by using your thermostat settings. We highly recommend you try these when possible. Any time you can save energy, you will also save money. The two go hand in hand.




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