In recent years power rates have increased in Canada. If you’re understandably concerned about rising power prices and how your monthly household budget may be negatively impacted by it, you’ve come to the right place. Below we have listed a number of things you can do to reduce the cost of electricity in your home.
Power Rates on the Rise in Canada: A Handy Guide to Saving Money
Simple changes in your home:
Below are a few easy changes you can make at home to reduce your power bill to help with the continuing rise in electricity rates:
- Make sure to replace your air filters and fan filters around your house, in your bathrooms and the furnace.
- Reduce heat and air conditioning waste by checking doors and windows for leaks.
- Ensure that your appliances work properly.
- Unplug any devices not in use.
- Install energy efficient lighting.
- Use your appliances strategically. Don’t do your laundry or other household tasks that require a lot of electricity during peak hours.
- Keep drapes and window shades closed when you’re not home to insulate your home better.
Image Source: https://sunly.ca/
Choose to have solar panels installed on the roof of your home:
Instead of paying high electric rates to power your home, it’s well worth considering solar panels installed on your property. With solar panels you will be able to power your home with renewable energy. Solar panels can be used in order to power your lights, air-conditioning units, heating units, electrical appliances and much more. To learn about this in detail, read below and be sure to check out the Sunly website.
The most important reason why you should run your home off solar power is that, as each year goes by, energy prices in Canada could continue to rise. If you invest in installing solar panels on your property today, in the next 10 years, you will see your savings rise while your neighbours complain about having to spend more and more on electricity.
A Common misconception:
“You will be able to use the power which you’ve collected from your solar panels to power your home’s lights and electrical appliances when your neighbourhood experiences a temporary power outage.”
As a safety protocol if the electric grid goes down no power is generated from the solar panels at that time either. In many areas this is how the net metering program works. However if there is a battery backup installed you can power your house during temporary outages. The only catch is that those systems are considerably more expensive and typically are not cost effective in today’s market.
If you were curious, yes solar panels are effective in collecting power in winter as well as in summer. You will be able to live off your home generated power, all year round.
Use smart technology in order to control your home’s electrical appliances:
Another way to save money, when it comes to energy consumption, is to use smart technology in order to remotely control all of your home’s electrical appliances. For example, did you know that you can use apps and computer software in order to turn your home’s air-conditioning unit or heat pump on and off. Without having to be in the same room as your air-conditioning unit or heat pump.
If you invest in purchasing electrical appliances which can be controlled and monitored remotely, you’ll be able to save your household a lot of money. As an example, instead of keeping your air-conditioning unit on all day during the summer, you will be able to turn it on 30 minutes to an hour before you leave work. By the time you get home, your house will be sufficiently cool. This has the ability to save your household valuable money.
Make sure that your home features modern, state of the art, energy efficient appliances:
You may be surprised to learn that old, outdated appliances can consume up to 90% more energy than new, state of the art, energy efficient Energy-Star appliances. Although it can be costly upfront, it’s well worth looking into replacing your outdated models for newer, more energy efficient ones.
Final thoughts:
If you’re serious about decreasing your power bill and being less reliant on electric companies, you can’t go wrong following all of the handy energy saving advice, which has been listed out in the energy saving guide above. Just remember, that if you don’t want to be negatively affected by Canada’s increasing electricity rates, having solar panels installed on your property may be one of the wisest decisions that you’ll make this year. Especially as power rates and power bills could continue to increase for the foreseeable future!
