If you’re like most homeowners in the Calgary area, you’re probably always on the lookout for ways to reduce your living expenses. As you likely know, one of the most effective ways to curb costs is to make energy improvements in your home. Even if you’ve already taken steps, such as switching your old incandescent light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs, there may be other areas you haven’t considered. Learn how to upgrade your home today, and start seeing a significant drop in your energy bills.
How to Upgrade Your Home to Save Energy
By utilizing the following tips, you’ll not only lower your energy costs, but you’ll also make your home more comfortable to be in, while reducing your carbon footprint at the same time:
- Get an energy audit. By hiring a professional to perform an inspection of your home and your energy use habits, you can come up with a detailed plan of action. While hiring an expert is obviously going to yield the most thorough results, you can opt to perform your own inspection instead. Simply hold a smoke pen or lit incense stick up to your closed windows when it’s windy outside. If the smoke moves in a linear direction, then you’ve found an air leak that needs sealing.
- Improve your windows and doors. On top of sealing air leaks with weatherstripping and caulking, you can use your curtains or blinds to either block sunlight or allow it in.
- Ensure your home is adequately insulated. Make sure it’s especially insulated in your attic to help preserve more conditioned air.
- Install a programmable thermostat. Unless you’re very mindful about manually changing the settings on your thermostat throughout the day, you’re likely wasting energy. Programmable thermostats allow you to schedule your system to come on during the hours your home and to go into energy-saving mode during the hours you’re away or asleep.
For more information on how to upgrade your home, so you can start saving more energy, please feel free to contact Arpi’s Industries, Ltd. in Calgary anytime.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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