We are now in the thick of what some people call, not so lovingly, brown-out season. People are running air conditioners and fans on high trying to cool down. Often over-taxed power grids will have rolling brown-outs, cutting power consumption and trying to avoid power outage and grid failure emergencies. It’s up to homeowners and renters to figure out ways to cut their energy consumption.
One you may not have thought about is Automated Window Blinds. These blinds can be set on a timer to properly shade windows at times when the sun is beating in. This can lower the temperature of a room considerably. They can also be used as black out for those who work overnight and need to sleep during the day. Automated window blinds are fashionable, cost effective, easy to use and well worth the installation- paying for themselves in less energy consumption.
Other easy and common ways to cut our power usage during brown-outs are:
Doing laundry on off hours. Drying laundry on an outdoor or indoor line if possible.
Installing and using whole-house fans: these fans draw the hot air up and out of the attic or roof space, pulling in cooler air. This circulates fresh air throughout the house helping it feel cooler.
Setting your thermostat (Nest or other) to a warmer temp during the time you are not in the space
Turning down your electric water heater temperature
Additionally, to cut overall electrical energy consumption:
LED bulbs- they use a small fraction of the power of a traditional incandescent bulb.
Using timers on lights, shortening the time used and turning off what we might have forgotten in passing.
Motion sensors in rooms to turn off lights when no one is in there.
Contact Gringo Dave’s Electric, Inc. today at Dave@gringodaveselectric.com or 719-290-1484 to discuss lowering your energy consumption and find out where automated window blinds and other solutions can be employed in your home.