Solving an Electrical Problem

You may not mind winter and may even be looking forward to a bit of snow, but if you heat your home with electricity, you are no doubt dreading those pumped-up power bills that will start rolling in with the cold weather. If you are like most homeowners, trying to avoid the huge spike in power usage and trying to keep your home warm will have you doing what you can to conserve and combat those extra heating costs. Thankfully, there are quite a few things you can do in spite of the cold weather and your electric heat system working hard to keep those power bills at bay. 

1. Drop the thermostat a degree or two when you are not roaming through your home. - Before you skip off to work in the morning or head to bed at night, go ahead and adjust your thermostat down a few degrees. Just by lowering the thermostat by one degree, you could see a three percent savings on your power bill. So, if you drop the temperature to three or four degrees lower while you are not at home or wrapped up warm in your bed, this can add up to a hefty savings over the course of the month. If this is a task you cannot remember to do, pick up an inexpensive programmable thermostat  that will do this automatically once it is set. 

2. Have your heat system checked out by an electrician before the onset of winter. - Many homeowners have no idea just how much insight an electrician has to give with an electric heating system and will mostly rely on an HVAC technician for advice. However, having your heat system checked out by an electrician means they can pinpoint electrical problems with your furnace that could be draining more power than necessary. Faulty or aged wiring, misconnections, and other issues can be spotted by the trained eye of this professional and repaired immediately. 

3. Install foam insulators around your power outlets. - When the temperature drops, test for drafts around your power outlets by unplugging everything and placing your hand over it. Many homes have little to no insulation around electrical outlets. This may not seem like a lot of draft, but when you have several outlets in one room, it can be like trying to heat the space with an open window. Foam insulators are cheap and are easy to install. You simply take off the face plate and stick the thin insulator to the wall around the outlet. 

For more information concerning electric services, contact businesses such as Kunselman Electric, Inc.