Are You Wasting Energy at Night?

Lots of things can keep you up at night, but your energy bill shouldn't be one of them. Energy makes your life easier and more comfortable, but wasting it while you're asleep is like something out of a bad dream. Open your eyes and take steps to eliminate these late night energy losses.

Out of control thermostat

Adjusting the thermostat at night or when you're not at home is one of the best ways to reduce your energy costs. However, it's easy to forget and the thought of getting out of a comfortable bed to change the temperature doesn't sound very appealing.

Programmable thermostats make things simple by automatically adjusting temperatures based on whatever schedule you set. Newer "smart" models can even learn your habits and adjust accordingly. They know when you're sleeping and when you're awake, so you don't have to worry about it.

Energy sucking vampires

You've seen them late at night, those tiny lights from cable boxes or game consoles glowing in the dark. These and other energy vampires are lurking in your home all night long, drawing power and draining your energy budget while you sleep.

Slay the energy vampires by unplugging chargers and other devices that you don't use very often. Plug other stuff into smart power strips, which automatically cut power to devices when they're not in use.

Lights burning the midnight oil

You probably don't have any oil lamps in your home, but lights running all night long can waste a lot of electricity and money. Common culprits include lights left on in the laundry room, bathrooms and outdoors, as well as decorative lights.

Go through your house and turn off all lights before you hit the sack. Timing controls are a good fit for decorative lights. Occupancy or motion sensors might be a good choice to control outdoor lights, as well as areas that you don't visit very often, such as a work room or storage room.

Your nightmare's over. Now you can rest easy and wake up to a more efficient home and lower energy bills.