What is Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program?

In general, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or the LIHEAP is a Federal government-funded initiative that aims to assist low-income households on paying for their electric bills. Normally, the LIHEAP is designed to give assistance during winter as the consumption of electricity rises due to the heating demand on each home. However, for places that do not have winter season, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is given to households that could not afford the extra cost of air conditioning during summer.

How does the program work?

The program usually gives priority to households with low income and high electric consumption. The State shall provide financial assistance to cover for electric consumption of beneficiaries.

What are the aims of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program?

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has 4 aims

1. To help households with low income to pay for the current electric bill,

2. To help households with low income to pay for the previews electric bill,

3. To help households with low income to lower down the future electric bill,

4. And to help households with low income to improve their homes to adapt on the weather condition, thus making their home more energy efficient.

Are the all programs the same on every state?

Since each state has their own needs, the programs may be different. Some states have Winter Financial Assistance Program. Some have Weathering Program. However, but the basic 4 aims remain the same.

What types of services are offered in case I am found eligible?

All states offer the basic assistance. To be specific here are some of the common services you can get:

� Emergency assistance

� Furnace replacements

� Making your home energy efficient

� Furnace and chimney cleaning

� Minor repairs

� Heating assistance, and

� Energy cost reduction devices

Take note that these services may not be included on the program of your state. You may want to check on the particular services that are being offered in your state to get specific details.

Who can apply for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program?

Generally speaking, anyone can apply for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP as long as they reside on the state where the program is being offered.

Where do I go to apply for LIHEAP?

Each State that offers this program has designated offices where walk in applicants can apply. Some local County Social Services Offices accept application for LIHEAP. There are several States that provide downloadable application forms. You may want to complete the application before you visit the office to make the eligibility determination process faster.

When is the right time to apply for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program?

Each State has its own set schedule on when to apply for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. You may check on them as to what particular date you can submit your application.

Am I 100% sure that I can get the grant after I have applied?

Normally, you have to pass the eligibility screening in order to get the grant. For it only serves those who are earning below minimum, everyone can be accommodated but not everyone can become the beneficiary. You may check out first the criteria of the program to determine if you have the chance to become a beneficiary. Each State has its own set of criteria in order to pass the program. You may also want to check on this to know where do you fall.

Should I pay for the application?

No. Application is usually free, however, you may pay on the services you have made based on your income.

How long will the application process last?

Each State has its own length of evaluation and processing period. The State of North Dakota for instance usually processes your application within 45 days. Other States give result from 1 week to 2 months.

After I have applied, what should I expect?

After your application has been processed, you will receive either an email or a postal main stating that you are found eligible or your application has been denied.

Traditional energy sources are continuing to diminish. This is the reason why energy prices continue to increase.

We all know that the main energy source of energy for the United States is oil. As you may have gathered from the news, oil is not really getting any cheaper. In fact, the increasing prices of oil have caused the economies of different nations to suffer.

Because of this, the government often gives incentives to those who would find a means to reduce energy costs. Some of the programs include tax breaks for companies using alternative energy and cash grants for people who try to discover ways on improving alternative energy.

One notable program is the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO). This program is designed to encourage people to use energy efficient home designs. This way, the government hopes to promote energy conservation and overall, lower the energy costs.

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO), actually offers cash prizes to people who build energy efficient houses or make some improvements to their residences in order to make them more energy efficient.

As you may gleam from the name, the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) is open to any homeowner in the state of Louisiana.

How does one qualify for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO)?

a) New home – in order to be qualified for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO), a new home must be built according to 5-star standards. This means that the new house has to be built at least 30 percent above the Model energy code of 1995.

The application for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) should be filed prior to the actual construction of the house.

b) Existing homes – existing homes must have improvements made upon them in order to qualify for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO). The improvements made upon the home should equal to 30 percent energy efficiency. Also, the application for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) should be filed before the improvements are implemented.

How much is the cash prize given?

The cash prize for the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) is, of course, proportional to the amount of energy saved. The cash is equal to 20% of the energy efficiency premium up to an amount of 2000 dollars.

How do I get rated?

Well, there are a lot of certified energy raters who will be willing to rate the current energy efficiency level of your house and will also be able to rate the energy efficiency level of any new buildings or improvements you are planning.

What does a home energy rating tell me?

Well, a home energy rating can compare the energy efficiency of your home and lets you compare your potential energy use to that of other homes. It can help calculate your future energy bills and helps you modify the design of your house in order for you to consume your home energy more efficiently.

A home energy rating can also provide you information which may be useful in getting an energy efficiency mortgage. This is a type of loan which provides you money in order to make energy efficiency related improvements on your home. When you calculate the financial value of the improvements, you will see that the mortgage payments are significantly lower than what you’ll have to pay in energy bills without the improvements.

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) is actually a pretty good incentive when you think about it. In fact, other place may only provide tax breaks when you have an energy efficient home. The amount of savings that a person can have should be enough to encourage anyone to make their homes more energy efficient. However, the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) also offers cash, which means that you will be getting double the reward just by trying to cut back on your energy expenses.

Of course, programs like these would be useless if people continue to live their lives as destructively as they do today. In order for people to be motivated, they need to understand how much wasting energy is affecting our world. They also need to know that energy production today may still be costing us more than we should be willing to pay.

We are blessed with the discovery and proper utilization of energy around us. There are several sources of energy that makes our living easier. Energy lights up our home every night, keeps us warm during cold winter, allows us to be entertained, and makes our living pleasant no matter what time of the day. And with all the other uses of energy from the moment we check our clocks in the morning to keeping us warn as we rest during the night, all of us would agree that it would be so hard to llive without it.

We can say that we have sufficient energy supply for a lifetime but that does not mean that we are not going to conserve it. After all, technology has its price. And that price is something we have to pay with cash.

And if coping with electric bill is your problem every time you see your bills, here are the ways on how to lower them:

� Provide good roof coating

A good roof coating deflects heat. And so, insuring that the roof receives a good coating would mean insuring you that your house would maintain good temperature on the inside.

� Keep your attic well ventilated.

Your attic is one of the more important parts of your house when it comes to the cooling system. The attic is your first and probably the most effective part of your house the keeps the whole house cool. But, in order for your attic to do its main purpose, make sure that it is well insulated.

Provide vents where the heat can come out during summer. Your attic door must also be sealed to ensure that the air from our house does not go through it and vice versa. The attic door can be sealed with weather strippers.

� Securing all the leaks.

Leaks contribute to high cost of home energy. Why? It is because air from your house can easily come out from these leaks. And the air from the outside can easily enter the house. Both increase the workload of your heating and cooling system.

You have to remember that air moves according to air pressure and temperature. Since the temperature of inside your house is most of the time different from the temperature outside, air moves freely from these leaks. Making sure that the leaks are sealed would mean less work on your heating and cooling system and lower electric bills.

Leaks would come from fireplaces, ducts, doors, ceilings, floors, walls, windows, plumbing penetrations, electrical outlets, fans, and vents.

� Reducing the thermostat

One degree centigrade is equivalent to 5% electric bill savings. Therefore, keeping your thermostat low will save you a lot of money. A total saving would also come from switching your thermostat further low when you are not home or if you are sleeping. The ideal temperature during winter is not higher than 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

� Limiting the use of water heater

The second largest electric consumer next to your heating and cooling system is your water heater.

When you wash you clothes, you don’t need to heat the water up. Just use the water from the faucet. This will save you by as much as 90% in washing machine energy consumption.

� Use energy efficient material around your home.

There are commercially available materials that would significantly contribute to the reduction of the cost of home energy. One of these is energy efficient windows that deflect the outside temperature (whether during winter or summer) from entering your home.

� Use your appliance efficiently

It is pretty basic for all of us to turn off televisions, air conditioning, stereos and other electronic gadgets when not using them. However, most still disregard this. The reality is; we can save a lot if we only learn how to turn them off if not in use. Also, small things such as iPod chargers, cellphone chargers, digital clocks, lights and other things that seem to consume small electric current that remain plugged day in and day out contribute to your electric bill. Making sure you unplug them would certainly lower down your monthly electric consumption.

You have the details. All you have to do is to make sure you follow them all.

We all know how dangerous lightning can be. In fact, the Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters have proven through some experiments just how dangerous having your house hit by lightning is.

Lightning, when it hits a house, actually travels through a home’s electrical system. The lightning tries to find the quickest way to the ground. It can travel through your plumbing and even through the phone.

That is just the reason why you should avoid the phone or the computer during a thunderstorm. A lightning bolt traveling through your phone into your body can actually kill you in less than a second. You might reason out that there are a lot of stories circulating about people who survive being struck by lightning. However, you have to ask yourself one question: do you feel lucky?

In the same note, you should also avoid the shower, as water plus electricity equals very bad news.

Now that you know at least the basics of home lightning safety, let’s move on to your stuff. As said before, Lightning can travel through the house electrical system. This would be no problem for simple appliances like electric fans or light bulbs.

Don’t breathe easy yet, because the appliances that lightning does damage are the ones containing microchips. That’s right: lightning will damage your precious high tech equipment.

What do you do? Well, they always say that preparation is always the best thing you can do. Here are some tips:

1) Unplug all damageable appliances if you think a storm is coming – This would disconnect all the appliances from your house’s main electrical circuit and will save your stuff from being fried.

2) Get a lightning rod – Of course, almost everybody has heard about a lightning rod. This simple device attracts the lightning and diverts it from the house. This device is also grounded. This means that the lightning rod actually makes a pathway for the lightning to reach the ground as quickly as possible without damaging your equipment.

3) Get a house energy shield – This is a relatively new concept built for the sole purpose of preventing surges from frying your appliances.

House energy shields are often installed by electronics companies who specialize in accessories. If you are imagining your house covered by futuristic energy shields that deflect lightning blasts, you may have been reading too much science fiction. A house energy shield is a system provided by some companies that will protect your electrical circuit from damage in case of energy surges.

A house energy shield composes of a number of surge protectors that protect specific appliances. This prevents lightning from doing any real damage to your precious stuff.

Another component of a house energy shield is the UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply. This piece of equipment actually provides clean power when you experience a power surge or brownout.

We all know the risks of not properly shutting down your computer. A UPS actually gives your system the proper time to shutdown before running out of power. Another problem with sudden brownouts is data loss. Don’t you just hate it when a brownout suddenly turns off your computer and you remember that you forgot to save a document you were working on?

Well, this part of the house energy shield system will allow you to save your files even when you experience a brownout. Now isn’t that just amazing?

House energy shield systems can actually be found in the internet. There are all sorts of equipments and accessories which you can use to protect your electrical system from being damaged due to unfortunate incidents.

You may also choose to buy different types of surge protection equipment and design your own house energy shield. Whatever your choice, you need to know that technology today can let you do whatever you need.

So, there you go, those are some things you may want to know about house energy shields. Remember that a thing doesn’t have to look good or even be visible in order to be effective. This is the case with a house energy shield. Sure, your house may not be enclosed in a force field, but you are protected.

And in the end, protection really does matter, right?

We all know how much of a headache bills can be. We all hate going to the mailbox, only to find a heap of bills waiting for us. There’s nothing more painful than paying for utilities. It seems that when we receive electricity bills, we are always surprised at how much energy we consume.

However high our house energy bills are, we see them as something we have to endure. After all, we all need to pay for our electricity, right? So whenever we see those high energy bills, we react with resignation, dig deep into our pockets and pay whatever the electric companies demand.

What you need to know is that there are ways to lower those house energy bills. There are a lot of simple and practical ways to conserve energy. By using these methods, you can significantly lower your house energy bill.

First of all, you need to realize that all the little things matter. You need to understand that there are a lot of small things we do that are wasteful of house energy. Some of these little wasteful habits may seem insignificant, but if they are combined, they might amount up to one third of your house energy bill.

Here are some of the habits which can cost you a lot.

1) Leaving the refrigerator door open – Some people may not see this habit as something that would significantly affect their energy bill. However, given the right information, you will see that this habit can actually cost you a lot of money.

You see, a refrigerator works by absorbing the heat within the compartment. If you open the refrigerator door, you let heat enter the system, which means that the refrigerator needs to consume more electricity in order to lower the temperature. By leaving the refrigerator door open, you are essentially trying to absorb all of the heat energy in the house.

Oh, yes, If you still do not know, the little light does go off when you close the refrigerator door so don’t waste energy by trying to find out.

2) Leaving the lights on – This is a very common mistake made by every household in the world. Most people forget to turn off their lights and these lights consume electricity. Sure, one light turned on may not consume much house energy, but what if all your lights were left on? Surely, this would cost you a lot on your electricity bill.

If you can, you might want to open up your shades and let the sun shine into your life. Some people actually tend to draw their shades and then turn on their lights, what’s more wasteful than rejecting free energy?

If you can’t help forgetting to turn the lights off, you may want to consider buying some energy-saving lamps. These lights may cost you more when you first buy them, but these are guaranteed to save you a lot on house energy in the long term. By investing in these lights, you will be able to cut a lot off your house energy bill.

3) Playing with the thermostat – People hate being bored. However, please do not try and ease your boredom by turning the temperature up and down. Whenever you get the urge to adjust your thermostat, ask yourself this question: am I feeling uncomfortable because of the temperature or is it all in my head?

The same advice goes for air conditioners. Sometimes, people blame their discomfort on the temperature. However, you need to be honest with yourself and leave the thermostat alone, ok?

Here are some things you should do to conserve house energy:

1) Try to look for alternatives – In order to save on your house energy, try to look at alternative energy options. You see, there are a lot of different home alternative energy devices available in the market today. These devices can actually support small home appliances by supplying them with free energy.

2) Try to look for energy-saving devices – There are a lot of devices available today that can maximize your house energy efficiency. These devices often only require you to plug them into a socket and they monitor your energy consumption. These ensure that no energy is wastes when you are operating your house appliances. For now, these may cost you a pretty penny, but as the technology continues to develop, expect prices to drop significantly.

The summer days, ice storms and winter days are just around lurking at the corners. As a matter of fact, every one of us consume an approximate amount of fifty percent of our house energy just so as we can cool or heat ourselves during these seasons. We are unable to survive comfortably without getting enough heat during the coldest days and getting enough coolness whenever it is the peak of the summer season. As a result of this human craving, the cost of energy consumption is affected. Through all the time, the amount paid for the house energy consumption is continuously rising. This is one thing which cannot be altered even by the advantages in technology itself. Luckily, there are simple tips which need to be practiced in each of the households and they do guarantee one thing–and that is with regards to cutting down your escalating energy consumptions. You will hence profit a lot from these house energy saving tips and you can also be turned into an environment-friendly individual.

In most of the households in the country, the cooling and heating procedures are the biggest factors that trigger the energy costs to rise. Like for example, a home which is poorly insulated prompts a great dose of cool and warm air to escape towards the exterior portion of the home. As the heat rises up, a great deal of it escapes all towards the poorly insulated ceilings and attics. In the same case, the cool air tends to fall therefore a less insulated flooring will also allow its escape. Without telling things straightforward, so much home energy gets wasted with this kind of setup. The poorly set fittings of the windows and doors are also contributory factors to the wasting of house energy.

As a great defense, what you need to do is to have the walls, floors, and ceilings thoroughly insulated. Such improvement plans may cost you a good deal of amount especially with old houses in possession but then you can always seek the help of the federal government with regards to this matter. The federal government usually proportionate subsidies for these kinds of renovation undertakings. Take note also that the savings that you will be working on will increase as the months pass by and you will just realize how good it has been for you to get on with the endeavor.

So have you made up your mind? Do you now intend to put in enough money into your pocket? You can save as much as 10% from your monthly electrical bills by trying to eliminate as much air leaks that exist in your home. Logically seeing things, the summer days allow the warm air to leak inside your home while the winter days let the air leak out of the home. Hence, this continuing practice promotes a great deal of house energy waste. The best thing that you can do to cut down your monthly electrical bill expenses is to do some caulking, sealing, and weather-stripping the cracks, seams, and openings all around your house.

For a few tips, read on!

Check out the air tightness your home has. During one windy day, get a lighted incense stick and then place it near the most potential air paths directing you to the outside path such as the doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, electrical boxes, ceiling fixtures, and electrical outlets. Once you see the smoke blowing in a horizontal direction, there you’ve found an air leak and which must be sealed, caulked, or weather-stripped at once.

Seal and caulk those gaps wherein ducting, plumbing, or electrical wirings infiltrate into and then out of the home.

Look for gaps or holes under the insulation and seal them using the stapled plastic over those holes and then caulk them at once at the edges with plastics.

Set up rubber gaskets at the back of the outside switch plates and wall outlets.

When the fireplace is not at all used, always keep close the flue dumper.

Storm windows or double-pane windows must be installed as replacements for the single-pane windows. The set of windows used in your homes can comprise as much as 10-25% of the heating bill. Securing them will likewise help you save up.

One requirement of a house is that it should be comfortable to live in. Of course, many people will say that a house cannot be called that if it cannot be inhabited. In order to make a house comfortable, certain aspects of civilization are required. We need to have the benefits of technology within the house in order for us to live in it.

Let’s face it: few of us can live without the benefits of technology. Only by having the conveniences of our times available do we stand a chance at actually having comfortable lives. However, comfort does have a price. In order to have these technological conveniences we need to consume energy. Energy costs money and, as people will tell you, money is not easy to come by.

People try to find ways to save money when possible (at least, the smart ones do). An evidence of this is the way a sale can make a product immensely popular. If you take a look around you, you will probably notice that even millionaires try to save as much money as they possibly can at their level of lifestyle.

In order to save money we, of course, try not to waste any of it. Most people would rather not spend on anything that they do not need. Electricity bills have a way of making you feel cheated out of your money. People feel that electricity bills cannot be controlled, hence, they should just be paid. This is because people feel that electricity is a necessary part of life and thus, the costs of electricity cannot be reduced, only paid.

However, if you really try to look into your situation, you might be surprised to see that there are, in fact, many ways in order to make your house energy efficient. By having an energy efficient house, you can cut back on the cost of electricity and only pay for what you are really consuming.

There are many ways to make a house more energy efficient. These methods are often found by other people to be time-consuming and expensive. However, those who have chosen to employ these methods find that the savings you get by having an energy efficient house is definitely worth the effort.

One thing to consider in making an energy efficient house is material. The materials you use in building a house significantly affect the cost of heating and cooling. By choosing your materials wisely, you can have a house that does not consume much energy to maintain a comfortable temperature level.

Another thing to consider is the design. In order to make a house more energy efficient you’ll need the help of an architect. Some architects actually specialize in designing energy-efficient buildings. By going to these people, you can maximize your energy efficiency.

Of course, energy efficient houses may not look like a conventional home. In fact, these houses may even seem a little strange to those who do not realize the purpose of energy efficient designs. However, the technology today has made it possible for architects to incorporate both forma and function in their house designs. This means that you may be able to have a very aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient home.

Also, in order to have energy efficient home, you’ll need to take a look at your surroundings and see if there are any alternative energy sources available for you to use. By making use of alternative energy sources, you can significantly lower your electricity bill.

Alternative energy is also known as “free energy” to some people. This is because of the fact that these energy sources are constantly being produced through the earth’s natural processes and are thus, available for harnessing.

In order to harness those alternative energy sources for your home use, you’ll need to have some sort of mechanism or conversion device. Thankfully enough, many home alternative energy devices are now available in the market for those who want their homes to be energy efficient.

Energy efficient homes are possible, thanks to the ever evolving technology. Energy efficient homes show us that it is possible to have all the comforts offered by modern civilization without paying a very high price.

A few years ago, specifically on 1999, paleoclimatologist Michael Mann released a report that concluded that man was experiencing a steady increase in global temperature. Before Mr. Mann’s work, the common belief was that the earth experienced a series of warming and cooling periods.

However, Mr. Mann asserted that people have caused an alarming increase in world temperature. This triggered some media hype and even gave way to a movie. Lately, however, a House energy committee report by Edward Wegman, George Scott and Yasmin Said, debunked this theory.

The House energy committee report by Wegman, Scott and Said proved through statistical means that the report of Mr. Mann, was full of statistical errors and that the methodology he used could have formed the same conclusion with any other type of data.

The three people who made the report were not climatologists. They were actually statisticians from different schools tasked with looking at the report from a mathematical point of view. They actually proved that the methodology and computations made by Mr. Mann was biased to producing the results of a “hockey stick” graph.

This, of course, led people to question the reasons why most of the climate research community remained silent about the discrepancies.

The House energy committee report by Wegman, Scott and Said contained not only the information on why Mr. Mann’s theories were invalid. It also attempted to explain the social network statistics of the climate research company and the reason why only two climatologists came forward to question the theory of Mr. Mann.

In fact, Mr. Mann’s theory was the typical climatologists dream: uncovering a global disaster due to climatic conditions. This, of course, put Mr. Mann in the center of the climate research community.

The attention that the climate community had gotten because of the report may have caused them to shy away from doing a critical study of the papers.

When you take a look at this case, you may be able to pick up a few lessons. Here they are:

1) Ignorance is bliss -Sometimes, people would rather not question an idea that brings them so much. People would rather be told that it is going to be alright than to see for themselves, for fear of discovering something bad.

Some people would rather live in a fantastic dream than in a horrible reality. True, our reality may not seem so good, but why would anyone trade the truth for a dream? That is one of the questions that we all think about, yet fear to answer.

2) A fresh eye never hurts – We all consider ourselves as the best judge of our realities. However, as the House energy committee report by Wegman, Scott and Said has shown, we all need to have someone look over our shoulders once in a while.

“For none is more deceitful than the heart” as a quote goes. We all need a reality check from other people from time to time as we tend to blind ourselves with the potential of success.

3) Make sure you have the facts straight – When we make something public, we must be sure of our motives and facts first. The quest for fame is far from being the right reason to declare something as catastrophic as the climatic end of the world.

In order to save yourself the embarrassment, you might want to have all your facts check out before announcing them. Remember that it never hurts to double check your results.

If you are no expert in one area, you might want to get advice from other people. Usually, researchers do not come to other people for they do not want to share the fame they think they will get. Unfortunately, not getting a second opinion often leads to self-destruction.

As you may see from the House energy committee report by Wegman, Scott and Said, even geniuses can make mistakes.

These are just some of the lessons we have learned from the House energy committee report by Wegman, Scott and Said. In fact, these lessons are always repeating themselves, showing their faces on every mistake that humanity has done. And through it all, we always learn to move on and grow.

Maximizing the Use of Your Home Energy

With the technological advancements we have today, it is hard to resist the temptation of having each electronic device available on the market. And why not grab the latest if you can afford it? However, with the increasing fuel cost and electric rate, there are things that need to be done. You may simply grab the latest plasma television or the most advanced heating system today but the thing is, you have to pay the price not only on these items but the electricity that they will consume. And chances are, if you have all the high tech stuffs at home, your electric bill does not come cheap.

So, as was mentioned earlier, something must be done in order to make sure that your are getting the most out of what you are paying each month energy. And the very first place to do some changes is right at your very home.

A typical household would spend about $1600 per year on electric consumption. You might fall under this figure. This is big enough right? But this is not the end of the story. Don’t you know that a big portion of what you are paying for electric bill is never been used? Let us put it in other words: Energy is wasted month after month right at your very home. Thus, you are spending on something that you never even use.

To make up for this, here are the changes you can do in order to get the most out of every cent you pay for your electric bill:

Turn off unnecessary devices. If you are not watching your television, never leave it on. This also goes with your stereo. Learn how to turn them off if you don’t need them. Turn off the lights if you are leaving the room as well. Also switch off the air conditioning system if you don’t plan to return for a while. If you don’t use the computer monitor, turn them off. Like the television, it consumes electricity when you are not using it.

Keep the sockets free. Unplug all your chargers. Yes, they consume small electric current but if you leave them plugged in day in and day out for months, you will feel their effects on your electric bills. Remember that these little things, when pile up can be big.

If you plan to leave the house, never let the heating system run at the temperature as if you are at home. Keep them low; better yet, turn it off. You are not using them anyway. Heating system consumes a large portion of your electric bill so you might as well do some necessary changes with them. If for instance you do not want to enter cold home, you can set up remote control heating system or a programmable heating system. In this way, you do not have to leave the heating system running all day. All you have to do is to set the time when you want your heating system to work and you will save a lot of money.

During the day, use the sun to warn up the house. The sun is free so open your drapes and windows and let your heating system rest for a while. Close the windows and drapes at night.

Instead of incandescent lights, use fluorescent. They produce more light but consume less electricity.

If you don’t want to turn the lights on and off every time you go in and out of the room, you might want to get some timers, dimmers and motion sensors to do the job for you. They are worth investing for.

Refrain from using hot water when washing your clothes. Also, it will give you much savings if you prefer washing on full loads. On your dishwasher, make sure you also full load them. If there are few clothes or dishes to wash, prefer using your hands. Air-dry them so that you do not consume more electricity.

Doing these things doesn’t mean you deprive yourself from freely using the electricity you need. It only means that you are wisely spending every cent you pay for electric bills.

Did you ever wonder where does your electric consumption go? And did you ever wonder how are you going to save on your electric bill? Well, you need not to ask these questions without getting the right answers anymore. This article will tell you the answers to these 2 questions.

The largest portion of your electric consumption goes to space heating, 47% to be exact. This is almost half of the cost of our electric bill. The other half is shared by lighting and appliance with 24%, water heating with 17%, air conditioning with 6%, and refrigeration with 5%.

With this information at hand, we can easily determine when to start our move to keep the our electric consumption low.

Since the largest part of our electric consumption goes to space heating, we will start here.

Insulating the parts of your home particularly the ceiling and walls save you as much as 30% on heating expenses that equates to 15% savings on total electric cost. Doing this will of course require you to invest on materials that will be placed around your home but it is worth the money. Imagine a $150 savings per year just by insulating your home.

Also, you can further save on heating expenses if you superinsulate your home if you are living in cooler environment.

Doing some changes around your home will certainly make a difference on your electric bill. If you live on warm climate, a shade of a deciduous tree will cool down your area that will save you on air conditioning. An appropriate roof and wall painting will further give you extra savings.

Covering your window with plastic coating will provide extra insulation. This will help to keep the heat from going outside as well as the cold air from going inside the house.

Sealing all the leaks around your home will ensure that the heat will stay inside. Leaks will often come from windows, doors, sills, joints and walls.

A regular maintenance check on the furnace will keep it running efficiently, thus, ensuring you get space heat equals the electricity consumed. A clean air filter will also ensure that you get efficient air recycling as well as clean air. Leaking ducts will make your heating system work 30% more, thus, you are using power and spending more on wasted energy.

A quarter of our electric bill goes to the lighting and appliances. Here, we would concentrate on the control and responsible use of lights and electronic devices.

Make sure that you turn the lights off when not in use. Turn off the lights when you leave the room even for a few minutes. Turn off the stereo and television if you are not using them.

Reduce the thermostat of your refrigerator. It constitutes 20% of your household electric consumption.

Wash your clothes with cold water. You can save as much as 90% on washing machine’s electric consumption if you will not use the heating. You do not need warn water so kill the germs on your clothes. The detergent will do.

Only use the dishwasher if you intend a full load dishwashing. Dishwasher uses the same amount of power and water whether you full load them or not. Also, prefer air-drying your dishes instead of heating them inside the dishwasher.

Reducing the temperature of your water heater will also help you to further reduce the cost of your home energy bill. If the thermostat of your water heater is set on 140 degrees Fahrenheit, lower it down to 120. It will be enough to give you warn water. Invest on water heater jacket. It is cheap but will certainly yield to bigger savings.

If you are going to replace your appliance, make sure you select energy efficient ones. Energy guide details can be seen on the label of each new appliance.

Compact energy bulbs are cheaper and more energy efficient than incandescent lights. Compact lights also last 8-10 times longer than incandescent bulbs so you will also save yourself from buying incandescent bulbs 8-10 times.

Replace your regular showerheads with low-flow ones. This will reduce your water consumption by as much as 40%.