Conserving Electricity During The Holiday Season
Between holiday decorations, entertaining guests, and whatever else the holiday season throws your way, it’s likely you’re putting your homes electricity into over time! This can cause your electrical bill to spike. Fortunately, there are several ways you can conserve electricity during the brightest time of the year. Keep the following tips in mind:
- Put a timer on your holiday lights. It’s great to have your holiday lights on when you’re home, as well as at the beginning of the evening. However, you don’t see them when you’re not home or asleep—so why would you keep them on during those times? To make sure you don’t forget to turn them off, put them on a timer so they shut off automatically at the right time.
- Use LED holiday lights. LED holiday lights might require a slightly higher investment, but they have many benefits. They’re more energy-efficient and use between 80 and 90 percent less power than regular lights. They also last longer, and since they don’t get hot to the touch, they’re less of a fire hazard so they’re much safer.
- Turn down the thermostat when you have a full house. Have you ever noticed how the indoor temperature rises when you have a lot of people in a room together? If you have a lot of guests over, just turn down the thermostat to below 65 degrees so the heating doesn’t come on. Note that while a lot of people open a window when it gets uncomfortably hot, the cold air is more likely to make your heating crank up. So, turn down the thermostat, and you’ll notice a difference in your energy bill.
- Use battery-powered decorations with rechargeable batteries. Not all holiday decorations need to be plugged into a power outlet. There are plenty of battery-powered decorations available that work just as well. To conserve power and respect the environment, use rechargeable batteries.
- Turn down the thermostat when you’re cooking. Are you hosting some large dinners over the holidays? Then you’ll probably know that the heat from your stove and oven can drive up the indoor temperature considerably. That means you can turn down the thermostat in the kitchen and adjacent areas to save power.
- Lower the thermostat setting for the upstairs area of your home. Heat rises. If you and your family are home all day with the heating on, then a lot of this heat will rise to the upper levels of your home and heat that area naturally.
These easy tips can help you save over the holiday season! On behalf of the team at Papalia, happy holidays!
