So we just moved from about a 900 sq ft apartment into an almost 1700 sq ft house, right before summer…if I had thought ahead I would’ve moved after the Las Vegas summer, but alas, here we are. So I’ve been searching for ways to cut down my power bill.
- I already turn lights off when the room isn’t being used.
- I also make sure not to leave the fridge open for too long.
- I closed 2 of the vents downstairs so the air gets redirected to the upstairs.
- All of the blinds stay closed.
Here’s what I did immediately after moving in…
- the house already had blinds in the windows (thank goodness!!) but the house only has 1 ceiling fan, in the master bedroom… so I put black out curtains in my daughter’s bedroom, my bedroom, the window by the front door, and just today I put some up in my living room (and they will always stay drawn).
- I put a small fan in my daughter’s room and I bought 2 small ones for the kitchen area and my bathroom. The way the house sits the sun hones in on my bedroom and the bathroom is relatively warm throughout the day.
- I also put a rotating fan at the top of the stairs to keep the cool air up there as much as possible. (heat rises, cold air stays down)
I then went to my power company’s website and got some more tips. So here is what I’ll be changing.
- Thermastat will stay between 79-80 while we’re sleeping and while we’re home during the day it’ll stay at 80. When we’re away for the day or a few hours, the theramstat will be set to 83. (I know that sounds hot, but with having the fans in the right spots it really makes a difference!)
- Running dish washer only over night as well as running the washer & dryer as late in the evening as possible.
- Will be installing a ceiling fan in my daughter’s room. The only way I can keep the temperature at 79-80 degrees at night is if she has a ceiling fan because I don’t want her getting over-heated and leading to more nosebleeds.
- I will go back to doing the weekly cooking on Sundays this way the oven use will be contained and not during the hottest time of day.
Here are some more great tips! https://www.nvenergy.com/home/saveenergy/energytips.cfm
Stay cool without going broke!!
everythingmommy2009 