Smart energy use this winter season could save you some cash
By James Baggett
With fall underway and winter just around the corner, colder temperatures make it necessary to turn on your house's heater. But this heat comes at a price.
The National Energy Assistance Directors' Association estimates heating prices will jump 10.5 percent this winter if your house is heated using gas or electricity. If you use oil, expect even higher prices, which are estimated to increase 28 percent from last year.
So when that chill runs down your spine, stop to think a moment before cranking up the thermostat. A few simple practices will lead to an energy bill that won't make you cringe.
Most energy-saving guides, including one available from Portland General Electric (PGE), recommend keeping the thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter and even colder at night. But let's face it, we're young college students, and as such we can do better.
Let's try 66 degrees. It's really not that cold, and your body acclimates after an extended period at this temperature. Besides, it's not that big a deal to throw on some sweatpants while spending time inside. If you can comfortably walk around your Portland house during the winter wearing shorts and a tank top, you're wasting money.
When it's time to go back home for Christmas vacation, don't forget to turn off the heat and hot water heater. This is really easy. As long as all of your housemates are going to be gone for most of this break, turn it all off. Sure it will be cold when you return, but it won't take long to get your hot water back. But don't do this for short-term absences, like if you're just going to be gone for the weekend. It can take more energy to heat up the cold water than you saved by turning it off.
A major factor in cutting energy bills is to be mindful of the time that you turn on your heat or other major energy consuming appliances. PGE, like other energy companies, sells its electricity at various rates during different times of the day, depending on the collective amount of electricity used at these times.
PGE defines three different prices for its electricity: off-peak, mid-peak and on-peak. This time of year, off-peak is from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and all day Sunday. At this time, energy is around one-third the cost of on-peak time, which is from 6-10 a.m. and 5-8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Mid-peak, which accounts for all other times of the week, costs a little more than half as much as electricity used during on-peak usage.
For example, it's almost twice as expensive to use appliances at 6 p.m., when most people are just home from work and doing things in the household that consume energy, than after 10 p.m., when the same people are getting ready to get in bed and many major appliances have been turned off.
Running your dishwasher or washing machine after 10 p.m. is one way to take advantage of lower off-peak prices. If you have a programmable thermostat, have it turn on at 8 p.m. and off as early in the morning as you can stand. The closer to 6 a.m., the better. After that, costs are much higher.
