How to Keep Energy Bills Under Control Through the Holidays

The holiday season is filled with laughs and love. If you aren’t careful with your finances, it can also be a time that stresses you out. Between the extravagant dinners and the enormous gifts, the expenses of the holiday season can quickly add up and break your budget. One way to save is to keep your household’s energy consumption under control.

Upgrade to LED Holiday Lights

Are you still hanging strands of incandescent holiday lights around your home? If so, you’re stuck in the 20th century. LED lights are up to 80 percent more energy efficient than incandescent lighting. What’s more, LED lights convert 95 percent of the energy they use to light and only 5 percent into heat. Conversely, fluorescent lights convert 95 percent of energy to heat and only 5 percent into light. LED lights also last up to six times longer.

Open and Close Curtains at the Right Time

Unlike many other areas at this time of year, Baton Rouge receives plenty of sunny days during the winter. Take advantage of that sun and let it heat your home. Open all of your curtains during the day to reduce your heating system’s workload. At night, make sure to close all of your home’s curtains to trap all of the warm air inside.

Set Your Thermostat Correctly

Maintain a moderate home temperature to ensure you don’t overwork your heating system through the holidays. As a result, you’ll save on energy costs. Aim to keep the thermostat at a consistent setting – 68 degrees is ideal. When you have guests visiting, turn the thermostat down a few degrees. The additional body heat will help warm the home.

Schedule Professional Heating Maintenance

Your HVAC system accounts for nearly 50 percent of the energy your household consumes. Therefore, it’s important that it operates at peak efficiency. Scheduling heating maintenance is the number-one way to make sure that happens.

Do you want to keep your energy bills under control through the holidays? Give Southern Air Heating, Cooling & Plumbing a call at (225) 217-6224 for additional tips on how to save or to schedule heating maintenance today.