GONZALES, Texas – July 19, 2023 – As your local electric cooperative, GVEC recognizes the importance of helping our members keep their homes as energy efficient as possible. That’s why we offer valuable services like our HVAC Spec Check or Check-N-Save AC/heating maintenance programs to the public and free home energy audits for members. We also provide helpful tips to help you save energy at home on our website, blogs and across our social media platforms.
As the hot summer temperatures continue in our area, we want to remind our members and the community of ways they can help conserve energy in their homes and lower summer’s impact on their electricity bills. And while some actions may have a larger effect than others, even small measures can help to make a difference. We’ve classified some of the good, better and best steps you can take to help you practice energy efficiency at home.
Good
- Close curtains and blinds during the day to help reduce the amount of heat coming into your home.
- Use ceiling fans in rooms you’re in to make the temperature feel up to eight degrees cooler. (Be sure to turn fans off when you leave the room.)
Better
- Wash clothes in cold water and take shorter, cooler showers. Heating water can account for 20% of monthly energy costs.
- Cook or grill outdoors to not only avoid using your electric stove or oven, but to also avoid heating your kitchen, making your AC/heating system work harder to cool it down.
Best
- Consider upgrading your conventional tank water heater to a heat pump system. These don’t use heating elements to heat water and consume up to 70% less energy than traditional tank systems.
- Cooling and heating your home make up about 50% of the average electric bill. Narrow the difference between your thermostat setting and the outdoor temperature by setting your thermostat to 78 degrees or as high as you can comfortably handle. For every degree you raise the temperature on your thermostat, you can save up to 4-6% on your electricity bill.
- Program pool pumps and hot tub heaters to run intermittently, or even turn them off, when possible.
- Consider adding rooftop solar and/or battery storage. Reach out to GVEC to schedule a free home estimate for our solar and battery solutions.
- GVEC members with Nest®, Ecobee, Sensi, Honeywell Home, or Amazon smart thermostats enroll in our Peak-Time Payback demand response program to help decrease energy consumption during peak demand periods and earn annual bill credits for participation.
Check out more summer savings tips, blogs, and GVEC services at gvec.org. Connect with us on social media, too. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Glass Door.
GVEC is a progressive cooperative focused on delivering products and services that empower the people and communities in South Central Texas. A trusted, local partner since 1938, today GVEC provides dependable electricity, high-speed internet, and beyond the meter services like AC/heating, solar and battery storage solutions, and electrician services. The Cooperative proudly serves over 120,000 consumers in surrounding areas through five customer service locations in Cuero, Gonzales, La Vernia, Schertz and Seguin.
