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Winter Energy-Saving Tips

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If you think a New Year’s resolution is all about pain and sacrifice, resolve instead to spend less on your energy bills and more on, well, whatever makes you happy.

As a consumer, you can accelerate these savings through some very simple actions designed to make your home more energy efficient and your bills a little easier to open.

Your main concern should be making heat as efficiently as possible, and then trapping that heat in your home. You can start with these five simple tips:

Get dirty. In the dry, dusty Panhandle, your air filters can become clogged with lint and dust, which makes your heating and cooling systems work harder to achieve a comfortable room temperature. Check and change them monthly – clean filters can save you up to 5 percent on your energy bills.

Take a trip to the attic. You may think your home is well insulated, but if you go into your attic and find a layer that’s less than six-inches thick, you need more. Up to 25 percent of the heat in your home can escape through a poorly insulated attic, walls or crawlspaces.

Watch the thermostat. Set your thermostat setting at 68 degrees during the times of day when you’ll be active inside the house. While you sleep or while you’re away at work, take it down to 60. These actions alone can save you up to 20 percent on your winter bills. If you have trouble remembering to change your thermostat, invest in a programmable model that does the remembering for you.

Seal the cracks. Check around your doors and windows to see if air is leaking. If so, make a trip to your local home improvement store and stock up on weather stripping. It’s inexpensive and easy to apply.

Let the sunshine in. During the day, leave your drapes and blinds wide open to allow the sun to heat the interior of your house. When the sun goes down, cover those windows back up. Fifteen percent of your heat can escape through uncovered windows.

If you’re ready to take your savings to another level, Xcel Energy provides more detail at xcelenergy.com (click “residential” and then “save energy and money”). Xcel Energy also has a list of contractors who specialize in energy efficiency improvements for Texas customers at xcelenergyefficiency.com. Many of these services are offered at no cost to electricity customers. You also can visit with one of our customer care specialists by calling 1-800-895-4999.

by Wes Reeves

Wes is the media relations representative for Xcel Energy in Texas and New Mexico. He is a native of Wellington, Texas, and holds a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

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