3 Electrical Upgrades to Lower Your Energy Use

An energy-smart home is better for the environment, and it helps you save your hard-earned money since your energy costs will go down. An electrician can help you with a few updates to make your home energy efficient. These updates will pay for themselves in short order.

1. Update Your Lighting

There are two ways to make your lighting more energy efficient: updating the bulb type and changing the energy source. When it comes to bulbs, LEDs are the most energy efficient currently on the market, beating out both traditional incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs. LEDs can also save you energy when it comes to cooling your home because LED bulbs produce very little heat compared to the other options on the market.

You can also switch from grid power to solar power. Solar is especially easy to implement for outdoor lighting. An electrician can set it up so that your outdoor lights run primarily on solar and only use the home grid in the event there is insufficient energy stores from the sun.

Ways to Upgrade

The quickest way to begin realizing some savings is to switch out the bulbs in your lamps for LED bulbs when possible. Over time, you can invest in more permanent upgrades, such as bringing in an electrician to install LED-only fixtures both indoors and outdoors around your home. You may also want to consider some solar fixtures, particularly in the landscaping.

2. Install Ceiling Fans

One of the biggest energy users in most homes is the HVAC system. Fortunately, there is a simply fixture that can help lower both your heating and cooling cost — a ceiling fan. Adding an overhead fan in every major room of your home can save you quite a bit. For comparison, the average AC system costs $0.36 an hour to run, while a ceiling fan only costs $0.01 to run.

The key to successful ceiling fan use is to know the settings. For summer cooling, the fan needs to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. This pushes cool air down. In the winter, the fan should run clockwise so that it recirculates warm air instead of letting it gather near the ceiling. Most fans have a switch on the housing that allows you to switch direction.

Ways to Upgrade

An electrician can switch out exiting overhead light fixtures with dual light and fan fixtures or install fan-only fixtures in rooms with no overhead light. To make fan use more convenient, have the electrician install a model that allows you to operate the fan and light from separate switches or dials on the main light switch.

3. Use Efficient Outlets

Not all electrical outlets are created equal. Energy efficient outlets are designed to cut power when an appliance isn't in use, thus reducing energy waste from phantom electrical loads.

There are even WiFi and smart phone app enabled outlets, which allow you to control the outlet even when you aren't home. Forgot to turn off an appliance before leaving the house? Simply open the app on your phone and cut power to the outlet.

Ways to Upgrade

Although plug-in efficient outlets are available and provide a quick way to use a bit less electricity, consider having permanent outlets installed by your electrician. Permanent hard-wired outlets are less likely to malfunction. Further, you can have the outlet sockets personalized for your needs. For example, there are USB, rotating, and child-safe outlet options on the market, which you can combine with the efficient outlet design.

Contact Beckstoffer-Welsh, Inc., to learn more about the electrical updates that can make your home greener and more energy efficient.