Jan 8, 2008 5:03 pm US/Mountain
Simple Steps Can Cut Energy Bills
DENVER (CBS4) ―
With winter temperatures blanketing the state, CBS4 Morning News anchors Ericka Lewis, Arturo Santiago and Jennifer Zeppelin got some advice on cutting utility bills from Andy Carlson with the Rocky Mountain Ace Hardware stores.
"The first thing that we always recommend is changing your furnace filter," he said. "If you change that out once a month you can save $30 to $50 over the course of the season in energy bills."
Taking control of the temperature in your home throughout the day will also save money.
"Install a programmable thermostat. You're away from your home a lot during the week, you to go work, you're asleep so you don't need the temperature as high," he said. "Every hour you can turn the temperature down 10 to 15 degrees, you save one percent on your energy bill."
Carlson said the thermometers cost anywhere from $40 to $100 and take about 10 minutes to install.
Another trick to saving money is to seal up your home.
"One of the easy things you can do is use a window installation kit. It creates a dead air space between the window and the surface. That can save you $10 to $15."
Carlson also said making sure you have enough humidity in your home is important when it comes to being comfortable.
"You can actually feel comfortable at a cooler temperature if your home is probably humidified."
Carlson explained you can determine if your home is properly humidified by putting a glass filled with ice and water on a counter. If it starts to sweat in 10 to 15 minutes, you have plenty of moisture, if not, you may want to get some humidifiers.
Installing energy efficient light bulbs is even more important in the winter because lights are on longer.
Carlson said if homeowners were to do all of the suggestions they could see at 15 to 30 percent energy savings.
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