If Greta Thunberg made you feel guilty enough to want to change your ways and save energy more than you’ve been doing, we’ve got some tips that can help assuage your conscience while lowering your energy bills.
- Put a sweater on. Likely your parents told you at home, if you’re too cold, then you don’t have enough clothes on. Dress in layers, and if you’re still cold, then and only then turn on a space heater or turn up the thermostat.
- Don’t be creepy about it, but you want to check on your roommates to make sure they’re not basking in front of a space heater in their skivvies while your energy bills are through the roof. Persuade them that the right thing to do is to dress warm in the winter. If they’re hard up for warm clothes and bedding, you and your other roomies should chip in and take them to the thrift store for a bargain shopping spree. It’ll be cheaper than paying those high energy bills.
- Shop around for deals with energy companies. Sometimes you can find one – but beware the come on, where you pay a low upfront cost and then the bills go sky high. Read reviews online before you make a decision.
- Set the thermostat down when you’re sleeping or away. When you’re asleep, you can huddle under blankets, so set the thermostat way down – as low as you can stand it without freezing the pipes. You and your roomies can also plan to spend significant hours away from home – be it in the café, pub, coffee shop or library – where someone else is paying the bills. Set the thermostat down, down, down.
- Find a cuddle mate – we’re not suggesting staying warm is the only reason to get romantic, but it can sure help on a cold night. In lieu of a significant other, maybe a pet will do. (It’s probably less emotionally complicated.) Do be aware that if you bring another person into the apartment for rent in Athens Ohio and that person spends significant time (two-three days a week or more), you may owe your roommates for a larger share of the utilities.
- Practice common sense energy-efficient habits, such as turning the lights out when you vacate the home, closing windows, and stopping energy leaks around windows and doors.