Go ahead, think of one of the best ways to save money as it relates to Texas home energy costs? Most people have this obsession with turning off the lights and even I remember being nagged about this growing up with my parents but sadly this will do little to truly impact your energy savings at home.
If you think turning off the lights every chance you get will do the most to save energy at home you have your energy-saving priorities about this all out of whack and it is hitting your pocket-book because of your cluelessness. You are not alone in your clueless behavior as a study shows that most of us don’t really know what actually works best to lower our energy bill.
Don’t get me wrong, if you have a habit of turning off the lights you are not doing anything wrong but don’t pat yourself on the back and not do anything else as you are living a false sense of energy savings. The reality is that if you swapped out your light bulbs for the more energy-efficient ones as well as replaced your light switches with motion sensing ones you would do a lot more to reduce your energy.
You could even leave your energy-efficient lights on all day and night and save more energy than continuing to use the older energy hog light bulbs. If you have old wiring in your house you may find that replacing your lights may not help as the bad wiring may terminate those bulbs prematurely but if you are in a new house with proper wiring you have no excuse.
The reason it may be better off leaving your lights on with the newer efficient bulbs is simply the lifespan is cut short with frequent on and offs. By only turning them off when you go to bed you protect the investment in the more expensive more energy-efficient bulbs and realize the true return on investment in those bulbs from their dramatic increase in energy efficiency compared to old bulbs.
The study has found that if you were to try curtailing your energy by not using old appliances and bulbs as much you would still be using way more energy compared to simply upgrading all your energy using equipment and appliances to new more energy-efficient technology.
Overall the study found that people take themselves off the hook if they are doing one or two energy curtailment tasks such as turning off the lights and using the dishwasher less frequently. The problem with this is that the perceptions are completely wrong as by simply upgrading the lights and appliance these things could be used even more and save a household a substantial amount of money and energy.
In conclusion if you were to do just two things to increase the energy efficiency in your home they should start with replacing your light bulbs and weatherizing a home. You can do these things very simply by picking up do it yourself weatherization kits at a local hardware store. You can blow in attic insulation as time permits and seal doors and windows with the weather-stripping kits you have bought.
The number 3 most energy-efficient task you can do for your home is a bit more costly but can be financed and the energy savings will subsidize its purchase. Guess what it is? It is installing a more efficient heating and/or air conditioning unit. If you would like to talk with a good ac company in Tyler TX that can do this for you we recommend checking out some of these AC contractors as recommended by the BBB: Tyler TX Air Conditioning Companies as listed with the BBB
Here are listings to 3 Tyler TX AC heating companies as found on the BBB:
Phone: (903) 592-7773
Fax: (903) 595-2640
2221 Wsw 323 Loop Ste 103A,
Tyler, TX 75701-0493
ACR Air Conditioning and Heating Services
Phone: (903) 597-6075
Fax: (903) 877-9464
11597 Highway 69 N,
Tyler, TX 75706-5633
Phone: (903) 597-8381
Fax: (903) 593-96382600 E 5th St,
Tyler, TX 75701-3533
Important Fact: About 80 % of old homes are not insulated enough as found in a study by the US Department of Energy
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Next go up into your attic and paint the mastic around where each duct piece connects to the next one. You will be up in your attic awhile so be sure to wait until the sun goes down to do this work.