When you buy a loft or condo in DTLA – especially if your new home is bigger and more expensive than the last place you lived – you’re going to want to look for smart ways to cut your energy bills.
This guide walks you through seven tips you can use now to slash your energy costs (and be a little friendlier to the planet, to boot).
7 Smart Ways to Cut Your Energy Bills in Your New Home
The best ways to cut your energy bills in DTLA include:
- Perform maintenance when necessary.
- Invest in a smart thermostat.
- Close your blinds.
- Find drafty spots and fix them.
- Use LED lights.
- Turn down your water heater.
- Check out your appliances, and upgrade if necessary.
Here’s a better look at each.
Energy-Saving Tip #1: Perform maintenance when necessary.
You’ll have to keep up on maintenance for all your appliances if you want to cut your energy bills – and that includes changing the air filter on your HVAC system, which you need to do at least quarterly (and sometimes more often). It also means cleaning out dryer vents and cleaning off refrigerator coils – both of which can cost you big on lost energy.
Related: How to clean a dryer vent
Energy-Saving Tip #2: Invest in a smart thermostat.
A smart thermostat helps you reduce energy waste by allowing you to program temperatures for different times of day. If you’re not home all day – and neither are your pets – there’s no need to keep the house a crisp 68 degrees F during the summer or a toasty 74 degrees F during winter. Your programmable smart thermostat takes care of all the temperature changes based on a schedule you set, so you don’t have to throw away your hard-earned money on HVAC when you’re not even home to enjoy it.
Energy-Saving Tip #3: Close your blinds.
Sure, it feels lighter and brighter inside when the blinds are open – but it’s also getting hotter during summer, which means your air conditioner has to work harder (and costs you more money) to keep things cool. Close the blinds when you’re not using a room to save some cash.
Energy-Saving Tip #4: Find drafty spots and fix them.
Hunt around the house for drafty spots where your conditioned air can escape. Drafty spaces can be a tremendous waste of energy – in fact, they’re the largest source of heating and cooling loss in a condo or loft. Check around the fans, at the fireplace and your dryer vent, just to name a few – and don’t forget the windows and doors, as well.
Energy-Saving Tip #5: Use LED lights.
LED lights use up to 15 percent less energy than their incandescent counterparts. They’re the most efficient bulbs you’re going to find – and if you live in a space where people forget to shut off the lights when they leave a room, LEDs are essential.
Lighting use is one of a home’s major power-suckers, so by installing these more expensive bulbs might cost you today – but you’ll save even more tomorrow.
Energy-Saving Tip #6: Turn down your water heater.
Most experts recommend that you keep your hot water heater tuned to 120 degrees F – no higher, otherwise you’ll be heating water all day, and you might not even use it. If you can go lower, you should… because you can save 3 to 5 percent on your energy bills if you do.
Energy-Saving Tip #7: Check out your appliances, and upgrade if necessary.
If you don’t have Energy Star-certified appliances, the next time you make a big purchase, that’s what you should look for. Things like high-efficiency washing machines can save you a ton of cash, too.
Are You Buying a Loft or Condo for Sale in DTLA?
Call us at 213-254-7626 or get in touch with us online to start exploring your options when you want to buy a loft or condo in downtown Los Angeles.
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