With cold weather comes high heating bills and with inflation, these increases are not necessarily small. So what can you do besides bundle up and turn down the thermostat to keep your energy bills down while staying warm? The first step is to declutter.
That’s right, declutter. When you remove the miscellaneous clutter that gathers dust and prevents air flow from moving efficiently you allow your home’s ventilation and heating system to work the way it is supposed to circulating air to all the little nooks and crannies of your home creating a well-ventilated heated environment.
What does decluttering entail? It means discarding those stacks of mailers, magazines, and newspapers, cutting back on the number of knickknacks that you have lining the shelves, and storing seldom used furniture, athletic equipment, or seasonal items that are taking up space. Think minimalist.
Renting a storage unit for your underused items opens up your living space to allow air, heat, and energy to better circulate as well as creates an aesthetically pleasing, homey environment to enjoy those cold winter days and nights in. Not only does this let air move more effectively through each room, it also minimizes your need to close interior doors allowing air to flow from room to room uniformly heating your home.
You may be thinking that the offset would be minimal, but once you see your heating bills start to go down on a monthly basis and begin enjoying your space in a much more open living arrangement, you will see that the cost of storage pays for itself.
Some things you can do in addition to cleaning up clutter and storing belongings in order to shrink your energy bill are:
- Dust Regularly – Not just the surfaces of knickknacks and furniture, but also lightbulbs, monitors, and TV backs and screens. This allows these electronic items to work more efficiently and overheat less. You might also want to include a once per month dusting of your refrigerator’s coils and dryer’s lint trap. The last one not only save you money, they also protect your property as built up lint in your dryer’s lint trap is a fire hazard.
- Turn off Lights – This should be a no-brainer. But, it is worth repeating. Turning off lights, radios, and TV’s when you are not using them will save you a bundle in energy costs.
- Unplug Often – By unplugging your chargers, coffee pots, toaster, and other small appliances when not in use you cut back on energy consumption through powering off all of those internal features that continually drain energy like clocks on coffee pots, screen backlighting, etc.
Once you have finished your purge and decided on what items to store, check out Browning Park Mini Storage for the perfect unit to meet your off-site storage needs. With on-site management, 24/7 access, and a gated, monitored security system your belongings will be safer than ever and always available when you want them.