Any time of the year is a good time to save money, especially when it comes to the issue of one’s electricity bill. However, it is very understandable that the summer season is when one’s electricity bills tend to go straight through the roof because of the increasingly hot weather! This summer season, make sure that you end up saving some money on your electricity bill with the following energy savings cost cutting tips.

For starters, make sure that you keep your TVs and also your lamps quite a distance away from your thermostat. You see, both TVs and lamps emit heat, therefore prompting your air conditioning to actually run excessively and more than it really has to! Instead, place your TV and lamps across the room and think hard about switching to compact fluorescent bulbs.

Insulation is yet another thing you should do properly if you want to attend to your energy savings and your summer electricity cost cutting steps. You ought to insulate in an intelligent manner, for one thing. This means that you should look to insulate in some areas more than others, such as the attic. When you insulate your attic, you actually lower the negative effects of the heat that stem from the scorching rays of the sun. If you do this correctly, you are going to stop the heat that tends to build up on top of your home from actually filtering down to the rest of the residence.

Sometimes, your summer electricity cost cutting measures are so simple that they may even seem deceptively…simple! Take for instance the issue of your windows. When days get really, really hot in the summer months, just remember to close either your blinds or your curtains prior to leaving for work in the morning. This will minimize the effect of the sun’s blistering rays from beating down into the various rooms of your residence, thereby warming up your home to unbearable levels. As a sweet bonus, the fading effect of the sun’s rays to your rugs and your furniture will also be minimized.

Finally, you should use your microwave more than the oven for when you are preparing dinner. If you utilize your microwave, you can efficiently get your dinner ready in just a few minutes rather than an hour, and you will also be generating a lot less heat than if you utilize your oven!

So as you can verily see, there are a lot of things that you can do with regard to saving some money on your electricity bills over the summer. All that matters is that you have to be committed to adopting some of these money saving tips over the summer.

Here at Kolb Electric, we’ve had numerous business owners throughout MD, DC, and VA approach us for more information about commercial light-emitting diodes—more commonly referred to as LEDs. Businesses everywhere have been forced to find ways to reduce their monthly expenses and save money in order to survive in these challenging economic times. Transitioning to commercial LED lighting is one of the ways businesses in the area can save money and enjoy other benefits as well.

Commercial LED lighting is very energy-efficient—replacing incandescent, halogen, or compact fluorescent light bulbs with LED lighting reduces energy consumption 50 – 85 percent. Some studies reveal that businesses have the potential to save as much as 60 percent on their electricity bill each month by making a total change from incandescent bulbs to LED lighting. ENERGY STAR reports that lighting is the largest cost component of a commercial building’s electricity bill and a significant portion of the total energy bill.

Some businesses shy away from LED bulbs because of their higher initial cost compared to other bulbs.  However, it will not take long for businesses to recoup this cost in the form of direct savings on electricity bills. Also, LED bulbs work by generating light using a semiconductor rather than relying on heating up a traditional filament. What does this mean for you? It means the highest quality LED bulbs can last up to 50,000 hours. The typical incandescent bulb, on the other hand, lasts only about 750 hours.

Work environment upgrades are closely tied with an improvement in the performance of employees. A Cornell University study estimates that a 3 – 5 percent gain in worker performance can be achieved with better lighting. In many cases, the gains in worker productivity alone are enough to offset the costs associated with commercial LED lighting. Light has a direct correlation with ease of reading, lower eyestrain, reduced errors, better turnaround time, reduced risk of musculoskeletal injuries, and psychological well-being.

The great thing about commercial LED lighting is that it can be tailored to meet your needs for color accuracy. Whether you want lighting that’s warm, cool, or neutral, the right type of LED lighting is available. Color rendering—the ability to make colors look true—must also be taken into account when it comes to LED lighting. The color rendering index (CRI) characterizes light sources in view of their ability to produce “natural light” and can be between 0 and 100. The closer an LED light comes to 100 on the CRI, the more naturally colors are rendered, and the light is perceived as more pleasant.

Transitioning to commercial LED lighting can help you save immediately on your electricity bills. The fact that LED lighting lasts significantly longer than incandescent bulbs and has the potential to improve employee performance is also beneficial to your business. If you want to learn about what type of commercial LED lighting is best for your business, contact us today.