Cooler weather is here, and Roanoke Electric Cooperative is reminding member-owners of tips, programs and tools to help lower heating bills.
It’s no secret that heating systems require more energy than any other appliance in your home. However, with proper equipment maintenance and minor adjustments to your energy consumption, you can lessen the blow to your household budget this winter season.
What follows are a few simple and inexpensive actions you can take to maximize savings:
- Light more efficiently. Trim your energy cost this holiday with LED lights. Purchase LED light bulbs for your home and consider LED holiday lighting to decorate your home.
- Use your curtains. Leave curtains open during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home and close them at night.
- Lower your thermostat. While home, set your thermostat as low as comfortable. The recommended setting for colder weather is 68 degrees. Put on extra layers of clothing to help maintain comfort.
- Sort laundry responsibly. Dry towels and heavier cottons separately from lighter clothing. You’ll spend less time drying the lighter-weight items.
- Maintain furnaces and heat pumps. Replace your filters once a month or as often as needed.
In addition to these recommendations, the following co-op programs can also help curtail heating costs:
- Sign up for high-usage alerts. Member-owners can sign up for energy usage alerts via text or email. These alerts let you know when your energy consumption has reached a certain threshold so you can adjust usage accordingly. Simply text “JOIN” to 352667 to op-in for text alerts or call the office to receive alerts via email.
- Get a free energy assessment. Through the co-op’s Upgrade to $ave program, member-owners can request a home energy assessment to determine where savings can be gained through efficiency improvements. For more information and to request an assessment, visit the Smart Energy Savings page.