12 Ways to Save Over 25% on Your Second Home Utility Bills

In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to make sure that you are saving every penny you can.  Many people make the effort to ensure that their primary home is energy efficient but they neglect the fact that their second or vacation home can be a huge energy drain.  This article will provide you with practical tips for reducing your utility bills in your second home. 

 The Basics:

The basics include many ideas that you may have already done at your primary residence but may have neglected to take care of in your second home. 

 Replace filters for your furnace or air handler on a regular basis.  You should replace your filters every 30-90 days depending on how often the unit is running. Replacing the filter will improve your unit’s efficiency by as much as 5%.

Quick Tip:  Some advanced Thermostats (See below) have filter replacement reminders that you can set to remind you when it is time to replace the filter.  Or make sure when you install the filter that you write the installation date on the edge.

Install Ceiling Fans:  Ceiling fans are an excellent and inexpensive way to increase the comfort in your home without having to raise or lower the thermostats.  Ceiling fans will allow you to raise the thermostat temperature by 4°F with no reduction in comfort.  It will help remove the hot and cold spots and provide a more even temperature throughout the entire room.  Ceilings fans can even work in the winter by reversing the blade and pushing the hot air down from the ceiling.

Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.  Lighting accounts for approximately 15% of your total utility bill.  By replacing your existing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFL), you can reduce your lighting energy consumption by as much as 70%.  The bulbs will also last for up to 8 yrs.

Seal the leaks:  Approximately 20% of your heating and cooling usage can be attributed to excess air penetration in your home.  Caulking and insulation is a simple way to reduce your utility bills.  Many second homes are in temperature extreme locations such as the beach or in the mountains. These extremes make it more important to ensure that you check your window and door caulk on an annual basis to ensure it is good condition.  You should also check to ensure you have sufficient levels of insulation in your attic and basement.  Adding additional lay in or blown in insulation is an easy way to upgrade your home’s energy efficiency

The Off Season Check List:

Many second homes are only used on a seasonal basis.  Whether you spend the summer at your beach house and close it up for the winter or you ski at your mountain chalet in the winter and close it up for the summer, there are things you need to do to ensure you are not wasting energy and money while your home is unoccupied.

 Turn off your hot water heater.  Your hot water heater accounts for approximately 20% of the average utility bill.  Unfortunately, many home owners leave for the season, and make sure the lights are off and the thermostat is set, but forget to turn off the hot water heater.  Your hot water heater will continue to maintain the water temperature in tank at an average temperature of 120°-140°F degrees, even if you home is unoccupied 6 months out of the year.  This simple change can reduce your utility bill by up 10%. You may also want to consider replacing your current hot water heater with a tankless hot water system.  These new systems only heat water when it is called for and are 8-14% more efficient than a traditional hot water heater.

Turn down the refrigerator.  If you will be away for long periods of time ,turn down the temperature settings in your refrigerator and freezer to the lowest setting.  Add a box of baking soda to ensure they remain fresh for your return.  If you have additional refrigerators or coolers, turn them off and leave the door open so no mold grows while you are gone.

Winterize the pool or hut tub.  Ensure that your pool is properly winterized and the pool pump and heater are turned off.  Also, ensure that your hot tub is either drained or that the temperature setting is lowered to the lowest setting possible.  Make sure that that hot tub cover is securely fastened.

Unplug all TV’s and cable boxes.  Even though these TV’s and cable boxes are not on, they use an incredible amount of energy while they are in the off position.  This is often called Vampire Energy Drain.  These units still use power for the clocks or internal components while not in use.  Connecting them to a power strip and then turning off the power strip while you are away can save you over $100 a year on your electric bill. 

Protect Against Rental Abuse:

Many owners of vacation property rent their homes out on a weekly or monthly basis while they are not using them.  In most of these arrangements, you, the owner, are responsible for paying the utility bill’s.  Here are a few quick ways to ensure your renters don’t take you to the cleaners.

Install a Tamper Proof Thermostat:  Renters are known for setting thermostats to wild extremes when they are not paying the utilities.  Many times they will down the air conditioning while leaving the windows and doors open, etc.  Install a tamper proof thermostat that prevents them from raising or lowering the thermostat more than a few degrees.  For every degree, the thermostat is lowered below 78°in the Summer, it will add 8% to your cooling costs.  Thermostats such as the ControlTemp CT1001 model (www.controltempthermostats.com)  can save you 18% or more on your heating and cooling costs through it’s tamper proofing and other advanced energy saving features.

Install motion sensors:  Renters are also known to leave all the lights on.  The installation of motion sensors in the main living areas of your home will ensure the lights go out after 15mins of no activity.  Also, use motion sensors outside your home as a security deterrent for when you are away.

Set the Pool Pump Timer:  If your second home has a private pool, make sure that your pool pump has a timer installed.  Many pool servicing companies let the pool pump run 24hrs a day to ensure it stays clean and chlorinated.  While the pump should run more in a rental home due to the amount of use, it does not need to run continuously.  Ask your pool service company to set the timer so the pump turns off from 9pm to Midnight and then again from 2am to 5am.  This will reduce your pump energy consumption by 25%.

Install a Hot Tub Cover Lift:  Renters have been known to leave the cover off of hot tubs for days and you pay to heat the sky.  While it is impossible to convince them to always put the cover back on after they use the hot tub.  If you make the cover easy to remove with a cover lift, they are more likely to put it back on when they are done.  The hot tub cover lifts also help ensure that the cover is not blown off while your home is unoccupied.