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Keeping
Cool: Tips For Beating High Summer Electric Bills
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May 2011
Don’t let warmer weather turn into “summertime blues” when your monthly electric bill arrives. Here are some energy-saving tips from
CHELCO.
Adjust the thermostat. As www.TogetherWeSave.com
demonstrates, lowering a thermostat in winter can save as much as $85 per year. During warmer months, raising the thermostat a few degrees can save money, too. Set the temperature between 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit, and you could save up to 8 percent on monthly cooling bills.
Programmable thermostats make it easy to save by offering four pre-programmed settings to regulate a home's temperature throughout the year. Contact CHELCO’s Marketing Department to learn more.
Be a “fan-atic.” While they don’t replace air conditioners or heat pumps, fans move air and help you feel more comfortable. On milder days, fans can save as much as 60 percent on electric bills. Fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave.
Regular maintenance is essential. CHELCO recommends that members have their HVAC systems serviced annually by a certified technician. This HVAC professional will check your entire system to make sure it runs efficiently. This will help to extend life of the system and save money.
Look for ENERGY STAR equipment. When it’s time to replace your cooling system,
www.TogetherWeSave.com
recommends replacing it with an ENERGY STAR- qualified model. Doing so could reduce your energy costs by as much as 30 percent. Tax credits and rebates on qualifying ENERGY STAR appliances may be available so check with CHELCO for more information.
Bigger isn’t always better. Too often, cooling equipment isn’t sized properly and leads to higher electric bills. A unit that’s too large for your home will not cool evenly and might produce higher humidity indoors. That’s why it is important to talk to energy efficiency experts at
CHELCO.
Instead of getting burned this summer by high energy bills, visit
www.energysavers.gov or Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives energy-saving website,
www.TogetherWeSave.com, for more money-saving ideas. Call the energy experts at
CHELCO.
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