Tips to Reduce Energy Consumption During the Holidays

Holiday seasons can be fun and festive. You might be planning on hosting a gathering and want your place to be warm and welcoming, or maybe you’d like to decorate your home. These holiday activities and many others often rely on electricity, and as a result, utility bills can increase. To help you save some money, we’ve provided a few tips that can help you reduce your energy consumption over the next few months.

Turn Down the Heat

Winters can be chilly, so it makes sense that you’d want your home to feel nice and cozy. However, heating your place requires a lot of energy. To reduce your heating costs, consider turning down your thermostat a few degrees. It might be easier to do this at night when everybody is sleeping and when people are at work or school. A smart thermostat can make it easier to make these adjustments, even when you’re not at home. Our team can help you get set up with a smart thermostat if you’d like.

Remember, you don’t need your home to be that warm when you’re hosting a holiday event. When your place is filled with people, everyone’s body heat can make it feel too hot in some situations. If you’re using your oven to cook, this will add warmth to your home, too.

Switch to LED Decorative Lights

If you enjoy putting lights up around the outside of your house and on an indoor tree, you should consider using LED lights. LEDs shine brightly and are much more efficient than their older counterparts. In some cases, LEDs can be up to 90% more efficient than incandescent bulbs. They’re able to be more efficient because they don’t emit a significant amount of heat. Nearly all of the energy that they consume is used for illumination. This is in contrast to incandescent lights. When incandescent lights are turned on, they consume more energy because their filaments need to get hot in order to emit light. Energy goes towards creating heat, which is a relatively inefficient way to create light.

Set up Timers

Holiday lights and decorative pieces don’t need to be on all night. They’ll get plenty of attention from your neighbors if they’re on for a few hours each night, starting around sunset. If you plug your lights and decorations into a timer, then they’ll turn off automatically. Many timers are affordable and are relatively simple to program. More advanced timers are digital, and some are compatible with smart devices.

Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference

Being smarter about your energy usage can add up to considerable savings on your utility bills this holiday season. If you need any assistance, please call us at The Electric Company. We service Modesto, CA residents.