It's the Little Things: 5 Small Energy Saving Tips

The energy efficiency of your house depends on all kinds of different factors, from replacing your ductwork system to turning off the lights when you leave the room. Even if you have all the big stuff covered, that doesn’t mean you get to slack off when it comes to using energy-saving habits. Remember: Every bit counts. Even if it doesn’t seem like much, each step you take still adds to a more energy efficient home and lifestyle. 

Unplug vampire appliances-

• While this is not an unknown way to save energy, it’s pretty easily forgotten.
• Energy vampires are appliances that don’t turn off. They either remain on “stand-by” mode or they simply stay on, but regardless, they suck out energy continuously from the lifeblood of your house. Hence the "energy vampires" name.
• Use smart power strips, which will turn off those pesky appliances for you by shutting down anything that goes into standby mode. You can also simply turn them off, or group them onto regular power strips for an easier time turning them off.

Keep doors open-

• When you keep doors in your house closed, it causes the air pressure to increase, which can possibly lead to your precious conditioned air to be sucked through any existing leaks into the attic, or even outside.
• This is an easy fix: keep your doors open! Your house will have a single air pressure throughout and you won't lose your cold air.

Change the thermostat-

• A programmable thermostat saves energy by allowing you to control the temperature remotely, and by adjusting the temperature by itself throughout the day in order to use the least amount of energy required. Some are advanced enough to learn your habits and adjust accordingly all on its own.
• If your thermostat has a “vacation” setting, use it! Only keep your thermostat on when you need it. 
• Even if a programmable thermostat isn’t an option for you, there’s still something you can do- keep this rule in mind: it is better to set the temperature higher during the day while you’re gone and bring it back down in the evenings when you need it than to consistently keep it cool. 

How you do laundry-

• Use cold water in your loads- almost all of the energy required to do your laundry is just from heating up the water.
• Wash only full loads.
• Only run the dryer for as long as necessary. Even running it a seemingly small extra 10 or 15 minutes wastes a significant amount of energy. Try to stop it from running as soon as your clothes are completely dry- and drying full loads should help with this too.

Ceiling fan details-

• Your ceiling fan should spin counter-clockwise, especially in summer. This will create a cooling, "wind chill" effect, as opposed to letting it run clockwise, which will cause the fan to recirculate warm air (which you might want in the winter, so don't forget where the direction switch is!).
• This will allow you to cool down a bit without touching the thermostat.

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Easy Ways Lower Your A/C Bill

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In Phoenix, air conditioning accounts for about 60% of your home’s electricity costs. In some cases, during the summer, energy bills will double because of the A/C use. To combat these outrageous energy prices, most Phoenicians will switch to the APS and SRP time of use plan. On this plan most will only do laundry at night and will set the thermostat up during the day. Here are seven ways you can save on A/C costs without spending thousands of dollars upgrading your A/C unit to a high efficiency unit.

Leave your doors open
Your interior doors of course! Phoenix air conditioning companies have spread a lot of false information out there about closing your vents and doors.  You want all the interior doors open or at least cracked to help circulate air back to the return.

Seal the ductwork
Around Phoenix, most homes are losing between 20% and 30% of their conditioned air in their attic. If 60% of your energy bill is coming from your use of A/C in the summer and 20% of your conditioned air isn’t making in to the actual rooms then you can see how that can add up to quite a bit- especially over 5 years!

Some HVAC contractors don’t seal the ductwork on new, high efficiency air conditioners which is like driving a Prius with a hole in the gas tank.  Sealing your HVAC ductwork not only saves money on your heating and cooling bills, it brings less dust in the home too.

Air seal your home
Sealing your home, especially around exterior doors, electrical and plumbing penetrations, and recessed canned lights will keep your conditioned air inside and the outside air outside. Chances are, when your house was built, the builder ran wires and plumbing plates through holes in the wall that are much bigger than the wires themselves. That extra space around the wires can let your expensive, air-conditioned air leak outside—and invite hot, summer air inside. This leads to heat gain quickly and makes your A/C unit work harder and more often.

Install shade screens
Shade screens block up to 90% of the sun’s conductive heat while still allowing sunlight in. Windows account from more than half of your homes heat gain because they have no insulation value and are (obviously) transparent.

If you’ve been holding back on shade screens because you don’t like the way they look, shop around! There are a lot of discrete designs that are coming out. Or, take them off in the winter! Shade screens are typically clipped onto the frame and can be very easily removed after the summer is over.

Increase your insulation’s R-value
Are you even surprised that Phoenix attics get really hot during the summer? The temperature difference between the attic and the house can be a major contributor to high A/C costs. Having the insulation up to R-38 can protect your home from taking on the heat from your attic and make sure it’s not taking a toll on your bill.

Make sure there’s no connection between your garage and your house
This is one of the lesser known causes of high energy bills and is surprisingly common in houses in Glendale, Scottsdale and Gilbert. Like the attic, the garage gets very hot during the summer. Temperature differences is one of the  main drivers of heat gain and having a direct connection to that is like filling a pool with a slash in the liner.

Annual A/C unit tune up
​The most important aspect to this tip is that the tune ups are done by a trusted, experienced, and reliable contractor. I personally know that finding a reliable HVAC contractor can be difficult.  Just because your friend is in the air conditioning business does not necessarily mean that they will do a good job.  I have been in too many homes where an AC contractor and friend installed a new unit and cut way too many corners simply because that’s the way they’ve been doing it for the last 20 years.  After that’s done, fixing any of their work is much more difficult.

Here’s an easy test that you can do yourself to see if you’re paying too much for your A/C. With the A/C on, close a bedroom door. Place your hand under the door to see if you can feel air coming out of the room. If you feel air coming out then your room pressures are unbalanced and you are probably paying too much for your A/C. Have an APS or SRP Home Energy Auditor do a home performance assessment to actually measure the pressure in each room to determine if correction is needed.

​Following these tips are a great first step to lowering your bills and taking control of your A/C use. For other ways to save money on your utility bills, be sure to check out our past articles and get up to speed on APS and SRP energy audits for your home. Feel free to call Green ID for more information or schedule your energy audit.