You already know that picking up small "green" habits can make a huge impact. But did you know that just making small shifts in your everyday routine can make an impact—not only on the environment, but also on your utility bill?
You don't need to make a dramatic change to see a bit of savings on your cooling costs. Just make subtle shifts in your everyday routine:
- Stay away from home longer. If you already raise your thermostat while you're gone at work, just extending that "away" period will show you the money. Make plans to take the long walk to your office, or stop by a friend's place on the way home.
- Lower your blinds earlier. Right now, you probably drop your window shades right before bed. But with the shades drawn, a well-insulated house or apartment will only raise a measly one degree per hour in 85 degree weather, far lower than the 20 percent of summer heat that enters your home through sunny, west-facing windows.
- Cook dinner and clean laundry and dishes at night. Any appliance that generates heat will make your air conditioner work even harder to cool your home. (This Old House estimates that baking cookies can raise the room temperature by 10 degrees, raising cooling costs by up to 5 percent.) Instead, run hot appliances (like ovens, clothes dryers and dishwashers) at night, when the temperature is naturally a bit cooler.
(Images: Flickr member Robert Couse-Baker licensed for use under Creative Commons, Gregory's Refreshed & Refreshing Home Office)
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It's going to be 106°F outside today and tomorrow where I live (about an hour out of Houston, Texas), and that's typical for this time of year. We already keep the blinds shut during the day, but there's so much ambient heat that it doesn't always feel like it makes a difference.
One thing that really helps to cut costs is simply bumping the A/C up a degree or two and acclimating yourself to it (only takes a few days). To pull some numbers that are probably incorrect off the top of my head, I think I've heard that you add 10% to your A/C bill for every degree under 78°F. I live in a house with a few other guys, and after some of the other tenants left for the summer, the remaining tenant and myself bumped the A/C up 1-2 degrees from where it had been around 76-77°F, which resulted in us shaving $60 off of the bill from the previous month, despite the temperatures climbing higher outside. Granted, some of that savings is simply the result of having less electronics and appliances running in the house, but the majority of it is almost certainly from the change to the A/C.
We've also closed the A/C vents (and doors, when possible) to bathrooms, closets, the kitchen, and the empty bedrooms, which helps to push more air to the places where we spend the majority of our time, and we've kept the doors open between the places we use, which has helped to keep the air circulating better. The result is that even though we bumped the A/C setting up a few degrees, the two of us who are still here feel cooler, since we're getting more cool air and circulation to the places that matter.
for us we just flip on the ceiling fan. we can keep the apartment a few degrees warmer and run the fan and it feels a lot cooler.
I think popping by a friend's house so you don't have to cool your own is kind of... usery.
I put roller shades up in my windows and have noticed a HUGE difference in the temp of the house and my bill. I raise and lower blinds as the day goes on. Whichever side of the house the sun is on has lowered blinds.