No one wants to spend a fortune on energy bills — but many homeowners find themselves frustrated by high bills month after month. It seems like even if you closely monitor your energy usage, you’re still spending too much on those monthly bills. What can you do to fix it?
It starts with understanding your home’s energy consumption. At PosiGen, we’re committed to helping our customers save energy by educating them on the factors that can affect consumption (and helping them identify and fix problems). Read on to learn more about our process and the ways you can make an impact on your energy use.
Your Starting Point: The Home Energy Audit
No two homes are exactly the same, which is why it’s vital to gain an understanding of your unique home’s energy consumption patterns and any problems that are leading to wasted energy.
The best way to get to know your home? A home energy audit. With PosiGen, an energy professional will come to your home and inspect it for areas of concern. We’ll help you identify any energy problems in your home and develop a plan to address them. These energy audits are offered at no cost to PosiGen’s customers. Why? Simple! We want to help you save energy, and we think this is an effective way to accomplish that goal.
Three Important Consumption Factors
Your home energy audit will cover a lot of ground. Many things can affect your energy use, but there are three key factors that we’ll focus on now, because these factors can make the biggest impact. These are:
- Appliance efficiency
- Insulation and air sealing
- Renewable energy options
So what’s the big deal with these items? How can you use them to gain a better understanding of your energy consumption — and reduce your energy use? Let’s take a look at each one and its potential impact.
Appliance Efficiency: Upgrade for Long-Term Savings
Appliances are frequently thought of as long-term fixtures, and for good reason. A good appliance is an investment in your home. But on the flip side, an old, outdated appliance could be costing you money. Outdated fridges, washers and dryers, dishwashers, and even water heaters can consume a massive amount of energy, costing you more and more money each month on your utility bills.
Many homeowners are hesitant to upgrade their appliances because it represents a significant investment. However, upgrading to Energy Star rated appliances can make a big impact on your energy consumption, meaning that your upfront investment could end up saving you a lot of money in the long run. An added bonus? With more efficient appliances, you can reduce your impact on the environment and become more sustainable every day.
Insulation and Air Sealing: Improve Energy Efficiency
When was the last time you thought about the insulation in your home? It’s not top of mind, but it should be. Inadequate insulation and air leaks in your walls, windows and doors can have a massive impact on your energy consumption.
Think of it this way: you spend a lot of energy (and money) heating the air in your home during the winter or cooling it during the summer. When your insulation is faulty or you have air leaks, that expensive temperature-controlled air is literally going right out the window. That means you’re spending more energy keeping your home comfortable. We can help you upgrade your insulation as well as locate and seal those pesky air leaks, for a more comfortable, efficient home without the cost.
Renewable Energy Options: Harness the Power of the Sun
Finally, consider how you’re powering your home. Most homes have no choice but to draw power from the grid when they need it. That means that when you need power, you have to pay the utility companies for it. But what if you didn’t have to do that?
When you go solar, you gain some control over your own energy. By producing electricity with solar panels, that power is there for you when you need it, lessening your reliance on the grid and reducing those monthly utility bills.
Better yet, in months when your system generates more electricity than you use, it’s fed back into the grid for use by others. This is measured with an energy meter, and you’re rewarded with credits. In months when you may need to use more power than your system generates, you can use these credits to pull power from the grid at a lower cost. That means even when you do need to fall back onto grid power, your solar panels will still help you do so at a lower cost than you’re paying now.
On top of that, when you generate power with electricity, you’re harnessing the power of the sun to create cleaner, sustainable energy and contributing to a more sustainable future for all of us.
Reduce Your Energy Consumption with PosiGen
Are you ready to take steps to reduce your energy consumption, make your home more efficient, and generate cleaner energy? We’re here to help. PosiGen can help you determine whether solar is right for you — and our home energy audit can help identify areas of concern and create a plan to tackle them. Let’s get started.
