When the holiday season comes, it means family parties and joyous times when friends come to visit. However, with more people in the home, this means that your family and your guests will be using more energy. Here are some tips to help make your home more energy efficient with house guests in your home.
Create a Shower Schedule
Bathroom sharing is more difficult when you have more people in the house. And you need to watch out for those “shower hogs”. As a host, you need to make sure that everyone has time to use the bathroom and help find a way to limit hot water use. Make a schedule so that your guests can sign up for when they want to take a shower. This not only ensures that everyone gets some bathroom time, but it helps them become more mindful of their hot water use.
Get a Programmable Thermostat
Sometimes, when guests feel a bit “too comfortable” in your home, they may feel that they have the right to adjust the thermostat. They can choose to make your home at a warmer temperature than what is the most energy efficient. When you have a programmable thermostat, you can choose to make your home warmer when your guests are home and then cooler at times when you know that no one is going to be home. Also, since you have more people in your home, you can usually keep your thermostat at a lower temperature and everyone will still stay warm.
Make Sure to Close Doors While Furnaces are On
It’s a good idea to close off areas in your home that don’t need to be heated while your furnace is on. Keep the doors to these areas closed and close the heating vents to these areas so that you are using your heating system as efficiently as possible. It’s also a good idea to get a draft snake for your front and back door as well as weather stripping for your windows so that the hot air indoors does not escape to the outdoors.
Set Up Some Energy Efficiency Reminders
Your guests likely want to do their part to help with energy efficiency as well. Put up some signs throughout the home to remind them of small things that they can do to conserve energy. These signs can remind them to close doors, shut off lights when they are leaving a room, or to not waste hot water. This can help your guest be more considerate of your home and their energy use.
Talk to a Heating and Cooling Technician
A heating and cooling technician can take a look at your system and figure out ways to make your system more energy efficient. Doing some basic heating maintenance can be a simple option to make your home a little more energy efficient. Also, they can offer more advice in a home energy audit in Henderson to keep that heating bill down while keeping you and your guests as comfortable as possible.