If you’re looking to save a few bucks on your electric bill, there are plenty of great tips out there for saving energy. Turn the lights off when you leave the room. Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Don’t leave the water running while you bush your teeth. While this advice is often accurate, there’s also a slew of energy saving information that’s a little too farfetched to be true.
We’ve done the research and come up with these five energy myths that you shouldn’t buy into.
Myth 1: Closing your air vents saves energy
It seems almost logical that closing off the air vents in your home would save you some money. After all, if the vents are closed your room can’t be cooled. However, that’s not exactly the case. Closing the vents doesn’t alter the amount of air coming from your HVAC unit. It simply redirects the airflow to other rooms and expends the same amount of energy.
In fact, keeping your vents closed could actually cost you more money over the long run. Blocking the airflow to a room causes unnecessary pressure in your ducts, which creates air leaks. In some cases, the pressure could cause so much damage that you have to get your HVAC system repaired or replace it altogether, which can be very costly.
Myth 2: Leaving ceiling fans on can help cool a room
There’s one big distinction about how ceiling fans work: Fans cool people, not rooms. The draft created by a ceiling fan makes people feel cooler. In fact, at their highest settings, ceiling fans can help people feel up to 4 degrees cooler. This allows consumers to turn up the air conditioner by 4 degrees without losing their level of comfort. It can offer significant savings since ceiling fans use just a fraction of the electricity used by an AC unit.
But if a person isn’t in the room, having the fan spinning is pointless. Since the draft it creates doesn’t make the room any cooler, it simply wastes energy. The same is true if only your furry friends are home. Animals have sweat glands that work differently than humans’. If you’re leaving Fido at home alone, the draft from the fan will do little to improve his comfort.
Myth 3: Electronics don’t use energy when they are off.
You may think you’re doing well by turning off your TV, game console and coffee maker when you’re finished with them—and you’re certainly saving energy over leaving them on. However, these devices continue to suck power from your outlets when they are off. That’s because these devices use what’s known as standby power, which allows the device to power up again quickly. According to Energy Star, this power waste costs the average American family about $100 a year.
If you want to guarantee that your electronic devices—as well as cell phone chargers—don’t waste energy, it’s best to unplug them. Another alternative is to use a power strip that can shut off electricity supply with the simple flip of a switch.
Myth 4: You should never turn your air conditioner off
Turning your air conditioner off always saves energy (and money). If you’re looking to save, turning off the unit while you’re away on vacation, when the weather is nice or on cool nights is an excellent way to put a little extra cash in your pocket.
Some people believe that turning the air conditioner off and on uses more energy than simply adjusting the temperature. The thought is that starting up the unit consumes more electricity than simply leaving it on. However, that’s not necessarily the case. Regardless of whether the air conditioner has been turned off or simply set to a higher temperature, the unit will have to work just as hard to cool your home when it’s necessary to do so again.
Myth 5: The lower you set your thermostat, the faster your home will cool
We’ve all been there. You’ve been outside suffering Texas’ triple-digit summer temperatures. You’re probably a little thirsty, possibly sweaty and definitely hot. Then you walk inside expecting the sweet relief of your air conditioner, only to find it’s not set to a satisfying temperature. But before you touch the thermostat, heed this warning: It won’t do you any good to turn the thermostat down dramatically.
A sudden decrease in temperature won’t cool your home any faster and may actually cause you to spend more on air conditioning. Instead, you should turn the thermostat down a degree or two. If the air conditioner stops running and you’re still hot, bring the temperature down one degree at a time until you’re comfortable. Making gradual adjustments will keep the machine from working harder and longer than it needs to so you can save a little money.