The weather outside is cold and temperatures look to continue to go well below freezing at night for the rest of the week. Cold snaps like this can really drive energy usage higher and with it, higher bills. Why? Because during severely cold weather, customers use more electricity and natural gas to heat their homes and businesses.
While none of us can control the weather, we do encourage customers to take steps to reduce energy usage and lower bills as much as possible during the winter months. We advise that you focus your efforts on the biggest energy users – heating/cooling systems and water heating.
A heating system on average uses 60 percent of a home’s energy. As outside temperatures drop, heating systems must work harder to maintain a home’s set temperature. The efficiency of a heat pump is reduced in severely cold weather, forcing the back-up heat supply to come on more often. This back-up heat could be three times more expensive than the heat pump alone.
It’s not just heating that’s affected, but hot water as well. With low temperatures, the water coming into the water tank is colder. When the tank sits in the garage, carport or other unheated area, it takes longer to heat up the water and uses more electricity. Also, some people have a tendency to take longer, hotter showers in the winter than they do in the summer. That adds up to more energy used to heat more water (which adds up to higher bills).
What can I do to lower my usage?
Energy use differs based on lifestyle, size and age of the home, efficiency of heating equipment, home insulation, and other variables. There are many things customers can do to reduce their usage, and their bills. We advise the following:
Electric Heat Pumps:
Set your thermostat at the lowest comfortable setting. Every degree you lower the setting will save you money. The Department of Energy recommends a setting of 68 degrees. Every degree is worth 3-5% in operating costs. Once you find a comfortable setting, don’t turn it up and down. Set it and forget it. Keeping the same setting throughout the season will give you the greatest savings.
When you adjust the thermostat on a heat pump system, even by just one degree, it could automatically force the less economical back-up system to start running.
This can be costly.
In winter only, if you are leaving your house for a few days, turn your heat down on your heat pump system, but not so much that your pipes will freeze.
Other Forms of Heat:
For other forms of heat (natural gas, oil, propane, geothermal, electric furnace and electric baseboard), adjust your thermostat as needed daily, and throughout the day. The Department of Energy recommends a setting of 68 degrees (or lower).
If you’re gone for several hours or more, set the thermostat at 55 degrees.
Be sure to turn the thermostat down at night and cover up with blankets.
It is less expensive to turn your heating system down during the day when the home is unoccupied. It takes less energy to bring the inside temperature up to your desired comfort level than it would if you left the system up all day.
Space heaters are expensive to operate. However, if you are trying to heat up a small room for a short period of time, they can be economical. If you use the space heater to warm up one small room for 30 minutes each morning, you can have that added comfort for less than $3 on your monthly bill. That’s a lot less than what it would cost to raise the temperature of the entire home using the central heating system.
Using a space heater to heat large spaces for long periods of time can be expensive. Running a space heater constantly will cost about $130 for the month.
Be sure to keep furnace filters clean, and make sure your heating system is operating efficiently. You can save 10–15 percent on energy costs by keeping your filters clean.
Make sure your home is well insulated and air-tight.
Weather strip and caulk windows and doors to seal small cracks.
WATER HEATING
Next to heating the home, water heating is the second largest user of energy—accounting for about 20 percent of the family’s energy budget. In order to save on your water heating use, GUC advises the following:
Fix the drips. One drop of hot water a second is nearly 500 gallons a month wasted energy down the drain.
Take a shower instead of a bath. An average shower requires half the water of a bath.
Install a flow restrictor on your showerhead to save hot water. Flow restrictors limit the flow to 3 gallons or less per minute and can save up to $25 a year.
Don't keep hot water running while washing dishes or shaving.
Insulate your water heater, but first check the manufacturer’s specifications as some cannot be insulated, due to safety hazards.
Set the temperature as reasonably low as possible. Although manufacturers used to set water heater thermostats at 140ºF, most households usually only need them set at 120ºF. For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3–5 percent in energy costs.
Call Energy Services at 252-551-1521 for specific information about reducing energy and water usage and lowering your bill. Customers can go to GUC’s website guc.com for additional tips and videos on lowering your energy bill.
PROTECT YOUR PIPES AND YOUR HOME
When temperatures drop below 32 degrees, exposed pipes are in danger of freezing and bursting. The damages caused by burst pipes can be costly to repair and can cause our whole system’s water pressure to drop. The pipes that are most vulnerable to freezing and bursting are outdoor pipes, such as swimming pool supply lines and water sprinkler lines; unheated and uninsulated pipes in the attic, basement, and crawl spaces. Even pipes that run along outside walls in kitchen or bathroom cabinets, as well as pipes in drafty areas are at risk if outside temperatures drop low enough.
Here’s what you can do to prevent freezing:
Insulate pipes in unheated parts of the home (including spigots outside)
Open doors on cabinets below sinks to allow for warmer air to circulate
Disconnect water hoses at outside spigots
Protect your lawn sprinkler system
Know where to shut off your water in case of a burst pipe