Power Saving Tips for Winter Warmth!

Winter is coming! That’s not just a line from one of my favourite TV shows, but something that’s happening right now.

In Sydney, the past few days have been getting much colder and the heating has been going full force. The problem with that – when the heat goes on, the power bill goes up!

We thought we’d pass on some tips that you can use to reduce your power bills this winter.

1. Trap the heat inside the house

Imagine trying to fill a massive bucket of water by pouring cup after cup from the tap, but the whole time you’ve got a small hole in the bucket. You’ll end up using WAY more water than you need. Plus, you’ll need to keep filling it as more water escapes the bucket.

If your house isn’t properly insulated, heating is exactly the same. It’s really important to make sure you’ve plugged any “holes” in your home. Some common areas are:

• Poor insulation in walls and ceilings – you can have somewhat of a saving by hanging art on the walls, or even putting a bookcase up (I knew those books were good for something).
• Window coverings aren’t being used – close your curtains! Don’t have any? Our friends at More Than Curtains can help with a cost effective solution.
• Gaps in doors – if you don’t have a “door snake” (mine looks like a dog, hilarious), you can roll up a towel and lay it across the bottom of your doors.

2. Close off rooms

If you’re not going to be using a room for the day, close the door. It saves you from wasting energy heating that room, and also prevents the cold air in that room from getting into the rest of the house.

3. Cover the floors

If your floors aren’t properly insulated, they can account for up to 10% of heating loss in your home, and that adds quite a bit to your power bill! The easiest and fastest option to fix this is usually to add a rug.

Also take the opportunity to check your floorboards and skirting boards for any gaps. Houses can shift over time, and this can open up new gaps for your heat to escape through.

4. Be smart with temperatures

As tempting as it is to crank up the heat as high as it goes, this is a major waste. It uses WAY more energy and the heat ends up being more than you need anyway.

In winter, setting your temperature somewhere between 21 and 23 degrees (Celsius in case some American is reading this) is usually ideal. It gets your rooms to a temperature that is comfortable, without being too hot or using too much energy.

If you are using a Gas or electric heater, use your highest setting sparingly!

5. Double check your power usage

One of the hardest things with electricity is identifying when there’s a problem. If you have a leaky tap, you can see it and you know it needs to be fixed. But if you have leaky power, often you can’t tell. We often expect our power bills to go up, so when they’re higher we often don’t really investigate why – it’s just “normal” now.

Getting a professional electrician to come and check your home, and possibly install some power monitoring devices, can help identify power leakage. This can have more of an impact on your power bill than all of our other tips combined.

If you’d like an electrician in Sydney to check your home for power leaks, give us a call.

We hope our tips help you reduce your power bills this Winter!