Simple Steps to Prepare for an Efficient and Safe Season

‘Tis almost the season for rosy red cheeks, building snowmen and holiday cheer. However, with the winter wonderland comes lower temperatures and higher electricity usages. Safe Electricity urges everyone to check for areas around your home where efficiency and safety improvements can easily be made.

A small investment of time now can keep you from wasting money on your monthly bill and can ensure that your home is safe as well. Safe Electricity offers these simple steps to prepare your home:

• Find air leaks both inside and around the exterior of the home. Just wet your fingertips and run them around the door or window frame to feel a draft, or hold up a tissue and see if it waves. Check around fixtures that penetrate walls, such as exhaust fans and electrical outlets. Look for unfilled gaps and cracks near dryer vents, chimneys and faucet pipes.
• Seal leaks between door frames and windows with weather stripping or caulking. Make sure attics and flooring, especially above unheated spaces such as crawl spaces and garages, are properly insulated. Executive Director of Safe Electricity, Molly Hall, explains, “Weather stripping and caulking are inexpensive and among the simplest, most effective ways to boost efficiency and cut energy costs year round.”
• Another way to save energy is by replacing screens with storm windows and doors. Double-pane windows with low-e coating can reduce heating bills by 34 percent in cold climates compared to uncoated, single-pane windows. If you have older or leaky windows that you cannot replace, use temporary fixes, such as plastic film kits that create the effect of an interior storm window.
• If you are shopping for new windows, glass doors or skylights, look for the ENERGY STAR certification on the label. Today’s high-efficiency windows are 40 percent more energy efficient than standard windows and can cut heating and cooling costs by 15 percent.
• Before firing up your heating system, make sure furnace and heaters are in good working order, and check ducts, flues and chimneys. Have a professional inspect and service your furnace each fall for safety and efficiency. An efficient heating system means greater comfort at lower cost. A furnace that is 30 years old or more should be replaced. Furnaces built before 30 years ago are usually less than 50 percent energy efficient.
• Furnace filters need to be cleaned or replaced monthly, more often if you have pets indoors. Furnaces run longer and work harder to move air through dirty filters. A clean furnace filter could potentially mean double digit savings on the energy bill.
• Consider installing a programmable thermostat. An easy-to-install clock thermostat can automatically raise and lower home temperatures for energy savings day and night. Set your thermostat to lower temperatures while you’re asleep or away from home. According to Energy Star homeowners can save about $180 a year just by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining the settings.
• If an electric space heater is being used, make sure the wiring is adequate, and check for cord fraying splitting wires or overheating. Don’t place a portable heater in high-traffic areas and keep it clear of flammables such as curtains, bedding, clothes and furniture. Never use extension cords with electric heaters.
• Make sure bathroom, laundry room, kitchen and outdoor outlets have ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and test and reset them monthly. If these outlets do not have GFCIs, have them professionally installed.
• Take a few minutes to check that light bulbs are the proper wattage and securely screwed in light fixtures so bulbs don’t overheat and ignite curtains or nearby furniture. Consider replacing light bulbs with new more energy efficiency bulbs. Also, test your smoke detector batteries. Replace them if they are more than six months old.
• Examine electrical cords for cracks, frays and damaged plugs, and don’t run cords under rugs, furniture or behind baseboards. Look for signs of electrical problems such as, switch plates, outlet covers, cords and plugs that are warm to the touch; and cut, broken or cracked insulation on electric wiring; frequently blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers. If these signs are present, you need a safety inspection by a licensed professional.

“Don’t forget to open curtains to let sunshine warm your home, and to close them at night to keep the warmth in,” reminds Hall, “Also, reverse your ceiling fans to a clockwise rotation to re-circulate and operate at the lowest speed to force the warm air downward and make sure fireplace dampers are closed when not in use. These are effective energy-saving tips that cost you nothing.”

“Taking these simple steps help reduce the risk of fire, shock, injury or death,” Hall says. “We want everyone to stay safe and warm this winter.” Most winterizing steps will pay for themselves relatively quickly with energy bill savings. Take these simple steps and prepare your home now before the first frost!

For more information on generator safety and electrical safety tips, visit www.SafeElectricity.org.  Safe Electricity is a program of the Energy Education Council www.EnergyEdCouncil.org.