5 Ways to Give Back your Energy This Holiday Posted on December 3, 2014 by Grounded Strategies Share this post Here are a few of my favorite ways to give back your energy this Holiday Season: Seal any air leaks If it feels like Jack Frost is blowing at your window, it is time to seal up your windows. Plastic and a little caulk can go a long way for not a lot of money. Anywhere you feel a little air coming into your home means that you’re losing energy! Don’t pay to heat the outside, find these spaces and seal them up. Heat only the rooms that you are using Shut the doors and vents to rooms that are not being used. That way you are not using energy to heat rooms that no one is using. Feeling chilly inside? Time to don those ugly Christmas sweaters. Change out your furnace filter image source: Google Search If your filter looks like Santa’s suit the day after Christmas, then your furnace works harder to pull air through and heat your home. This means you’re using more energy than necessary. During the month that your furnace is on, I recommend that you change the filter once every two months to keep your furnace running as efficiently as possible. Turn it off Everyone knows to turn the lights off when you are not using a room, but what about all of those appliances that are still plugged in? I know the christmas tree looks magical, but very few people are appreciating its beauty in the middle of the night. Use a timer so that it shuts off automatically or a surge protector to shut power off to multiple appliances (or holiday decorations) at once. Invest in whole home solutions Doing one off fixes are a great way to get started, but the best way to give your energy back is to tackle the whole house. After receiving a professional energy audit, use the recommendations to inform what will be the most effective combination of improvements for your home. Just like every snowflake, each home is unique and recognizing that will give you biggest bang for your buck. If you’re interested in taking this step, check out The Healthy Homes Incentive Program, a program that helps Allegheny County homeowners invest in home energy upgrades!