Summer Trip? Create a Vacation Energy Savings Plan

Now that summer is upon us, you know what that means — vacation time! To do it right, though, it’s important that you be aware of certain vacation energy savings to take full advantage of the fact that you won’t be home but without compromising comfort.

• Set your thermostat accordingly — While you’re on vacation, your thermostat should be set at 85 degrees to avoid using excess energy while protecting appliances from stifling heat. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to around 78 for the day before you return to maximize your comfort level.
• Invest in a WiFi thermostat — New WiFi models will allow you to use the internet and/or a smart phone app to not only make changes to your thermostat’s settings, but to monitor the temperatures around your home.
• Switch your water heater to vacation mode — Water heaters will hold a certain amount of “standby water” in the tank so that it’s ready to be used. This water is constantly kept warm, so you’ll save energy by switching the unit to its vacation setting.
• Turn off your fans — Fans don’t cool the air, but when you’re not home, it won’t matter anyway. If you leave the fans on while you’re gone, all you’re doing is wasting energy and money.
• Lower blinds and close curtains — The less heat that gets into your home during the summer, the more money you’ll save. Make sure to do this right before you leave on vacation.
• Put your lights on timers — If your home is completely dark, nefarious individuals might try to break in. You don’t want to waste energy by leaving lights on the entire time you’re gone, so put them on timers.
• Replace your light bulbs — To save even more money with times, replace your current bulbs with more energy-efficiency types.

If you’d like more vacation energy savings tips or have other home comfort concerns, be sure to contact the experts at Sobieski Services, Inc. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

Photo Credit: MLazarevski via Compfight cc