Save Energy Tips: Winter Season
While FortisAlberta prides itself on keeping your lights on, we also want to help you reduce wasted energy and maximize your savings with one or more of these energy efficiency tips:
- Look for a programmable thermostat that you can set to automatically turn down the heat at night and when you are not home
- Make sure your furniture and drapes are not blocking your heating vents
- Turn the heat off and close the door in rooms you aren't using
- Open your blinds on sunny winter days
- Use area rugs on cold floors
- Turn down the temperature of your water heater and do laundry in cold water
- Switch to LED lights. Outside your home or on your tree, LED string lights shine brighter and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent lights. LED lights come in different colour including a warm white that is softer than the bright white normally associated with LED lighting. Energy savings can be an estimated $0.45 in energy costs over the holiday season (two weeks) vs. $5.00 for mini incandescent string lights!
- Set a timer to turn lights on and off. Lights don’t need to be on at all hours of the day and night. Putting your decorative lighting on a timer will save money and electricity, while conserving your lightbulbs for the times of day when they should be most visible to your family and neighbours!
- Use pipe insulation around your hot water pipes to reduce heat loss
- Replace your furnace filter every three months to ensure it's working at top efficiency
- Adjust doors to reduce gaps
- Replace single frame windows with double or triple pane glass
- Install weather stripping around drafty windows and doors
- Put on a sweater and use blankets to keep you and your family warm
- Use a power strip to plug your lighting into. If you plug your lights directly into a wall, small amounts of phantom energy can be used even when the lights are turned off. Using a power strip allows you to flip one switch to turn all your lighting off at once, and avoids energy leakage.
- Turn off other sources of outside lighting. You likely don’t need to have both your house lights and decorative lighting on together. You may also have indoor Christmas tree lights that will provide more ambience when other indoor lighting is turned down or off.
- Decorate without electricity! There are lots of great ways to decorate without electricity as well. Reflective decorations like tinsel and garland can shine just as brightly as lightbulbs. Work with your family and create homemade wreaths, popcorn garland and paper chains to add some holiday spirit without adding to your December electricity bill.