“I haven’t touched my thermostat, but my bill has gone way up. What’s going on?”
It’s a common question—and totally understandable. After all, if you haven’t changed a thing, and your bill spikes, it’s normal to wonder what’s causing the fluctuation in your bill.
In a word, weather, and specifically, the cold spells that have rolled through Virginia this winter. It all comes down to something called temperature differential, said Energy Management Advisor Rich Mialki.
He notes that the fancy phrase simply refers to the difference between the temperature inside your home and outside. So if the temperature drops to 20 degrees overnight and your thermostat is set to 70 degrees, that’s a 50-degree difference. The coldest hours of the day are typically overnight so we don’t realize how much more the heat is running. The temperature gap tends to be much higher during the winter than the summer.
“We’ve seen low temperatures slip not just into the 20s, but also into the low teens or even high single digits since mid-January,” Mialki said. The disparity between the outside and inside temperatures means the heating system will run a lot more. These low temperatures also often cause costly auxiliary backup heat to kick on.
“So while your thermostat setting might have stayed consistent, the bitter cold temperatures have caused your heating system to run more and use significantly more electricity,” Mialki said.
Another factor that might contribute to a higher winter electric bill: Space heaters, which are energy hogs. Running two typical-size space heaters for eight hours a day could add more than $90 to your monthly electric bill.
Mialki shared a few steps you can take to keep your electric bill in check.
- In the winter, set your thermostat to 68 degrees or the lowest comfortable temperature.
In warmer months, set it to 78 degrees or higher. It’s a no-cost option to reduce energy expenses.
- At night or when you’re going to be away from home for an extended period, adjust the thermostat a few more degrees. Again, it all comes down to the difference between the indoor thermostat setting and the outdoor temperature. The smaller the difference, the lower our heating and cooling costs will be.
- Consider purchasing a smart thermostat if you don’t already have one. The devices allow you to program your temperature settings and even adjust the temperature from your mobile device no matter where you are. Extreme cold or heat will still increase your energy costs, but using a programmable thermostat will help you minimize those increases.
- Use the MyREC SmartHub tools to monitor and reduce your energy use.
“While we can’t control the weather,” Mialki said, “we can control how we use energy in our home to keep our electric bill as low as possible.”
For more savings tips, visit: myrec.coop/save
