Conserving Energy in Your New Home One of the many resources that returning veterans are taking advantage of is the VA home loan program offered by private lenders with the permission of the United States government. VA home loans have made the dream of buying a home a tangible possibility for returning and qualified veterans. But with new homeownership comes other costs, namely the costs of the monthly utility bills. While receiving a VA home loan helps a returning vet to purchase a home at an affordable rate, the programs benefits to do not extend to paying for the utility bills of a home.
Regulating Temperatures in your Home The monthly utility bills of a home can raise the cost of owning a home by hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars per year. But a homeowner can save themselves money on their monthly utility bills by simply practicing quality home energy conservation techniques. The first, and perhaps most effective, energy conservation practice that a new veteran homeowner can implement to save money every month is to regulate the thermostat efficiently. By avoiding the extremes, that meaning having the temperate put low during the summer and high during the winter, a homeowner can have their heating or cooling system in their home running less often. Heating and cooling costs can comprise the bulk of a monthly utility bill. Both gas and electric energy are needed to heat or cool the home, and as such, running the heater or air conditioner constantly within the home can make the monthly costs skyrocket. To avoid having the heating or cooling units of a home running too frequently, a homeowner simply needs to control the thermostat and keep it at medium levels. Keeping the room temperature of a house and the thermostat set to seventy five is usually a good temperature for energy conservation. Additionally, a new homeowner can shut off the thermostat and attempt to cool or warm the home through other methods.
Other Ways to Lower Costs For example, turning off the air conditioner during the summer and opening windows at night can keep a house cool throughout the majority of the day without having to run the cooling system. Trapping the cool night air in the home by closing the windows in the morning is a cost effective method for cooling the home. In the same manor, simply dressing warmly in the house during the winter will allow a homeowner to keep heating costs low. Turning the thermostat down in the winter and bundling up with warm clothes and blankets can drastically reduce the cost of heating a home.
While saving money on the monthly bills can be focused around the heating and cooling systems of the home, as this is where a majority of the expenses will come from, there are other ways that a homeowner can cut down on their utility bills. One additional conservation method is to strive to use less hot water. Whether by taking shorter showers or using less to wash the dishes, conserving hot water saves on two bills–the gas and the water bills. Gas is often used to heat the water in the hot water heater, so by using less hot water a homeowner will save on both the water and the gas bill. Photo Credit: davidlat, alexfrance