Heating & Cooling

Typically, 56 percent of your utility bill goes towards heating and cooling your home, so efficiency in usage is an important step towards reducing your household energy bill. Fill out a home profile in Green Mountain's Energy Saver Center. This online resource will analyze your home's energy use and offer valuable tips to improve its efficiency. Or, follow these easy steps:

Take Control of Temperature

• During warm weather months, set your thermostat to 78°F or higher when you're at home and 85°F when you're not. You can save up to three percent off your bill for each degree the thermostat is set above 72°F.
• Use the sunlight to your advantage. During winter, open the shades and blinds on sunny days as a way to light and heat the interior of your home. However, be sure to close them at night to reduce the amount of heat that is lost through the windows.
• Turn your hot water heater down to 120°F and reduce your hot water costs by as much as 50 percent.
• Clogged, dirty HVAC filters block normal air flow and reduce the system's efficiency significantly, wasting electricity and money. High-efficiency, reusable air filters can be found at the Green Mountain Power Perks online store.
• Dust build-up on the A/C coils reduces the cooling effect, causing the unit to use more electricity, so be sure to keep coils clean.
• Avoid using fireplaces. A roaring fire in your fireplace is an extremely inefficient way to warm up your house – it can exhaust as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside through your chimney. This lost warm air must then be replaced by cold air coming into the house from the outside.
• An electric heat pump is a simple and energy efficient way to heat a home. It works by removing warmth from the outside air and pumping it into your home, and provides three times more heating than the equivalent amount of energy they consumer in electricity. For the warmer summer months, a heat pump works just like a typical A/C unit.

 

Programmable Thermostat

• You can save up to 15% in cooling costs if you replace your manual thermostat with a programmable one.
• Programmable thermostat models are more accurate than manual ones and can be set to keep your home warmer during the day if you are not there. These thermostats will generally pay for themselves through lower heating and cooling costs during the first season of use.
• You can purchase a programmable thermostat at the Green Mountain Power Perks online store.

 

Schedule a Tune-Up

• A yearly tune up for your heating system is recommended to prevent unforeseen, costly repairs and to insure maximum efficiency.