Use Energy Wisely
Try This & Save...
Use this guide to create an awareness of your lifestyle and learn what effects it can have on your energy budget. Make this your first step to better energy management.
Your Unique Energy Needs
As the cost of energy goes up, more and more people are concerned about their rising utility bills. Consumers are looking for ways to control their energy use. The best way to do this is first to be aware of how much energy you use each month and how it is being used in your home or on your farm. This involves learning how to read your meter, keeping track of energy use and using your meter as a tool to locate problems. In this way, you can budget your energy use just like you budget for groceries and other household items.
Take a few moments now to work through this guide. Then, if you still have questions about electrical use and costs, call the professionals at your energy co-op. We’re here to help!
Lifestyle Makes a Difference
You have complete control over how you use your electricity by choosing the ingredients that are necessary for you to maintain your standard of living.
The way you live and the way you use your electrical appliances have a greater impact on your consumption of electricity than the number of appliances you have.
For example, about 13% of the energy used in the average American home is for water heating. Hot water plays a very important role in everyone’s lifestyle, but many lifestyles require substantial quantities of hot water,which results in high energy use.
Let’s look at some of these "lifestyle considerations" that can make your electric bill seem higher than "normal."
Family Size
There is a direct relationship between the number of people living at home and the amount of energy that is used. That’s especially true if you have teenagers at home. In addition, if friends and relatives are visiting, you can expect to use more energy for cooking, baking, laundry and hot water.
Space Heating & Cooling
From a comfort standpoint, most of us prefer to be relatively cool in summer and warm in winter. Others prefer temperature extremes. Humidity plays an important part in our year-round comfort, too. If we operate dehumidifiers in summer (and, to a lesser degree, humidifiers in winter), this contributes to our household energy consumption because they tend to run continuously. Portable space heaters, air conditioners and fans in such places as the the garage and basement also contribute to our energy consumption.
By taking a look at our "comfort" lifestyles in terms of
maintaining relative humidity and temperature, we can use energy wisely in may ways. These range from adding insulation, weather-stripping and caulking to turning down the heat and turning off the air conditioning in unused rooms.
Water Heating
Hot water plays a very important role in everyone's lifestyle, but many people require substantial quantities of hot water, and that results in higher energy use. Ask yourself some of the following questions...
- When I take a bath, do I use hot water sparingly, or is the tub completely full?
- Do I take short showers, or do I stay in the shower until the hot water gets cold?
- Do I repair leaky faucets, or simply let them drip and waste hot water?
- Do I operate washers and dishwashers with a full load, or just whenever convenient?
Appliance Use
We have a host of time and labor saving appliances available to help us do our work whenever we need their service. As you work through this guide, you may notice how many more electrical servants you have than you expected. These appliances work for you around the clock, whenever you choose to use them. The wise use of appliances can have a positive effect on your energy consumption. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I turn off lights when a room is not in use, or do I leave them on?
- Does the television set entertain the entire family or does it entertain an empty room?
- Do I leave the oven on 'warm' for longer time periods, or do I warm many dishes at once and then turn it off?
These are prime considerations that affect the amount of electricity you use to maintain your lifestyle. All Americans are part of the residential sector, and energy management consciousness is likely to start at home. The effects of a home and farm energy management program can pay big dividends! People in the Upper Midwest have relatively good lifestyles and we tend to use more energy than the national average. This applies to all forms of energy, not just electricity.
Get the Brochure:
Contact your western Iowa Touchstone Energy® electric cooperative for more information on using energy wisely.