Reducing Energy Waste While Working From Home
The new working from home trend has its bonuses. From being able to skip the commute to wearing whatever clothing you want, there are plenty of reasons why some employees would rather work this way. As most things, there can be a few downsides. One is higher energy usage and, therefore, more expensive utility bills. In fact, some research implies households may use 25% more electricity and 17% more gas per day when people work from home.
If your bills have gone up since switching to home office work, don’t worry. There are several ways to reduce wasted energy and minimize your energy costs. For starters, it might be possible to sign up for lower electricity rates depending on what state you’re in. Certain states, like Texas, have deregulated electricity which allows occupants to shop around for electricity suppliers at lower rates.
Home Energy Efficiency
Many other ways to save money on your energy bills revolve around upgrading your home. For example, when it’s time to change a light bulb, opt for an LED model instead a regular one. Make this simple change could reduce your kilowatt-hour consumption each month and, according to the Department of Energy, use 75% less electricity.
Similarly, you can plug all your electronics into a smart power strip. Designed to lessen phantom energy use, these strips turn off the electronics plugged into them when they’re not in use. Speaking of phantom energy, every household — whether someone is working from home or not — should unplug phone chargers and small appliances when they’re not being used to save energy.
One more way to reduce energy usage is to update the thermostat to a smart home device. With plenty of programable features and having easy access with an app on your phone, these advanced thermostats change the temperature automatically to preset conditions. The result is less misused energy as the home is kept at perfect temperatures over the year.
Aside from buying the latest innovations, you can also change your home office practices. A few changes could be to leave a note to unplug at the end of the workday or bundle up with layers or an extra blanket so you might lower the temperature. There are also common-sense actions — such as turning off the lights and closing your windows when the heat or air conditioning is on — that we all should pay more attention to throughout the day.
Want to know more about how to cut back on energy waste and save on utility bills? Check the additional resource from Energy Pricing below for more data.
Resources
https://energypricing.com/working-from-home-in-houston
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/how-save-energy-working-home
https://illumination.duke-energy.com/10-easy-ways-to-save-energy-while-working-from-home
Infographic provided by Energy Pricing, a leading competitor in electric rates in Pennsylvania