Staying warm this winter: Seven ways to save money and energy
Winter is here—but that doesn’t mean the cold weather has to get you down. There’s nothing like coming back to a toasty home on a chilly day. And even better? Embracing the cozy season, without worrying about rising energy costs. With these energy efficiency tips, we’ve got you covered.
1- Turn off your lights and unplug your electronics when they’re not in use.
This small action can make a big impact. Even when turned off, these devices use standby power. Pro tip: Use a power bar to turn them off completely and back on easily.
2- Lower the thermostat when you're out of town.
Lowering it to 16 degrees, when you’re travelling or away for an extended amount of time, will keep your water pipes from freezing—while making it easy for you to save energy and money when you’re not home.
3- Use cold water in the washer when doing your laundry.
Cold water is just as effective for your laundry and allows you to save energy while you’re at it!
4- Use lids when cooking to heat up food faster.
By not turning your element setting to ‘high’, you can save energy and maintain heat for your food with covered cookware.
5- If your home is heated with a heat pump, keep your temperature consistent.
If your home is heated (or cooled) by heat pumps like ducted or mini-splits, they do a great job of maintaining temperatures. Due to their efficiency and how they work, it is recommended to set the unit to a temperature you're comfortable with and leave it.
With mini-splits, if you do find the temperature needs an adjustment, changing the set temperature by a few degrees won’t impact your energy use by much.
With a central heat pump system, changing the temperature settings by several degrees inside your home can add up quickly. It’s best to do this in stages, if required.
6- Get a rebate or energy efficient assessments and upgrades through Efficiency Nova Scotia.
Efficiency Nova Scotia offers many programs and rebates on energy efficient products to make your home comfortable and to help you save money. Think insulation, heat pumps, hot water heaters and many more. Visit Energy Efficient Homes to take advantage.
7- If you heat your home with electric baseboard or on demand boilers, program your thermostat to these temperatures based on your usage and schedule:
If your home is heated by electric baseboard or on demand boilers, you can save money by setting your temperate back around five degrees at night or when away from the home for more than 24 hours.
There’s a good reason why - for every degree the thermostat is set above 21 degrees, the energy use and cost will increase two to 2.5 per cent.
By using the concept of ‘zones’ to heat certain areas of your home more than others, you can save up to 20 per cent in heating. However, this really depends on the type of heat source in your home.
If you’re interested in saving more on your annual power bill, consider joining our waitlist for our Time Varying Pricing rate plans. Time of Use or Critical Peak Pricing can help you save money on your annual power bill by shifting your power usage to off-peak hours. These are the time periods when electricity demand is lower, like evenings, overnight, and on holidays. Customers taking part in these rate plans can unlock lower off-peak rates, and summer savings, which means paying less money on your annual power bill! Learn more here.
Moreover, signing up for equal billing can help you budget better for the colder months when bills tend to be higher. Our Equal Billing Plan can help you with your budget by spreading the cost of your electricity equally over 12 months. That’s right! You can avoid winter bills and instead have 12 predictable monthly payments. Consider Equal Billing, and sign up today!
It’s important to add that we offer additional support for low-income households. Winter billing season can be tough, and everyone deserves a warm home. We’re here to lend a hand.
The HomeWarming Program offers eligible Nova Scotians energy efficiency benefits. The no-charge energy assessment and free home upgrades can help save money on heating and energy. For more information, visit The HomeWarming Program.
The Home Energy Assistance Top-up (HEAT Fund) helps eligible Nova Scotians with their energy bill. The Fund provides emergency assistance for all forms of home heating, including electric, propane, oil, wood and natural gas. Fore more information, visit HEAT Fund.
We hope these seven tips come in handy and help you manage your heating habits; conserve your energy consumption; save money on your power bill; and make you feel comfortable during the not-so-comfortable winter months.
If you have any questions or are looking for more suggestions on how to conserve energy this winter, get in touch. Our Customer Care team is here to help. You can also visit our Save Energy and Money page for more information, programs and tools to help you save.
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