Keeping Utility Costs Down in the Summer

As summer approaches often time our electricity bills take a hit. This is something that many people associate with the winter months, but the outside heat can impact your bill just as much as when you’re trying to keep your warm through the holidays. Here, real estate expert Colin McPartland provides a few quick tips to lower those costs:

Keep the Sun Out!

This is key, especially if the main living areas your home face west and are catching all the afternoon and early evening rays. Ensure your shades are closed as much as possible; there are several ways to do this, if you don’t have the best shades, give them some help. You can add tin foil, cardboard, or blankets to support the shades on the hottest days.

Double Check that Insulation

How is your insulation? Do you even have any? Something fairly common, especially in older homes, is that the insulation doesn’t exist over the ceiling or the existing insulation needs some TLC. Over time, insulation in the crawlspace can droop and get damaged by pests. In either case, having a technician come out and install or improve you insulation will cost you upfront, but it will be a money saver over the long term.

Limit those “Heat Generating” Appliances

You probably won’t be able to cut them out completely, but if you can avoid using ovens, stoves, hair dryers, clothes dryers, and microwaves amongst others, it’ll help. All of these produce heat, so think about other options to get the job done, hang dry clothes, meal prep in the morning, if you can grill outside, take advantage of the weather to get out there and enjoy.

Get Out of the House

Just like making the most of the weather to grill, do the same when it’s not mealtime. Summer is a perfect opportunity to head to the beach or the pool, go on a hike and bust out the camping gear, if the outdoors isn’t your thing, check out the local library, shopping mall, coffee shop, etc. Point being, use the communal options to stay chilled while also keeping those bills down

Hope this helps! l If you’re someone like me that lives in Seattle and summer hasn’t made its presence known, the heat wave issues may not be on your mind yet, but it’ll come soon enough. If you’re in a warmer area, take note, and put these ideas into effect. Have a great summer!