Alabama Power encourages Alabamians to prepare now for colder weather.
With the first days of fall long past, cooler weather will soon be upon us. Despite recent temperatures still hitting into the 70s, Alabama will be seeing numbers in the 50s and 60s as of Nov. 20 and lows will drop into the 30s.
Alabama Power is encouraging their customers to begin taking proactive steps now to improve their home’s energy efficiency and help reduce their power bills during the colder months ahead. Here are some effective winterization tips people can implement to enhance their home’s energy efficiency and prepare for the cooler fall and winter seasons:
1. Appliance/Equipment checkups – Have a qualified technician perform checkups on your electric appliances and equipment, especially your heating system. The results of these checkups could show ways to make your home and unit more efficient, saving energy on heating and powering your home and ensure that your heating system is prepared to switch from cooling to warming your home. Furthermore, equipment that needs to be repaired frequently can increase your energy costs and do a poor job of keeping your home comfortable.
2. Insulate and seal drafty areas – Check weather stripping around drafty areas like doors and windows and reapply stripping and/or caulks where needed to seal gaps and keep warm air inside. Also, check your attic space and other open spaces for areas heavily exposed to outside temperatures and apply additional insulation.
3. Update to more energy-efficient appliances and products: Upgrading to more energy-efficient appliances and products can significantly reduce energy usage and costs over time. Check out the energy saving, ENERGY STAR® products Alabama Power has available on our website at Energy Saving Products | Residential | Alabama Power.
4. Adjust/Lower your thermostat now: According to the Department of Energy, you can save up to 10% a year on your heating and cooling costs by lowering your thermostat 7-10 degrees for 8 hours a day from its normal setting. Lower your thermostat now to adjust and get ready to save energy. Also, installing a programmable or smart thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature can help cut energy costs.
In addition, Alabama Power offers billing and payment options to help customers establish more predictable power bills and even out the seasonal highs and lows of powering their homes.
- Budget Billing is a free service that lets customers pay an averaged bill each month, based on annual use. Budget Billing can help stabilize seasonal variations in energy bills.
- FlatBill is an optional residential rate plan that offers a contracted fixed bill amount for a12-month period based on a customer’s previous year's history at their current location.
- Residential Pricing and Rate Plans – Through Alabama Power’s Residential Pricing and Rate Plans, customers may be able to save money on their power bill based on how and when they use electricity.
- Electronic Home Energy Reports (eHERS) – This free report is generated each month to compare a customer’s home energy usage over time, provide energy insights based on usage and characteristics and share tips and recommendations designed to help customers reduce energy use.
Learn more about these options at https://www.alabamapower.com/.
