DENVER — Between inflation, the rise in natural gas prices, paying for previous storms and more, people across the state are seeing big increases in their energy bills.
Those prices aren’t likely to drop anytime soon. However, there are ways consumers can save money, including through local, state and federal programs.
Tips around the house
The first and easiest thing to do for consumers is to look around the house and see where they can save. Lowering your thermostat a few degrees can go a long way in bringing down energy bills.
“One of the simplest things that you want to have is a programmable thermostat. And this is really great because it makes it so that you're not constantly having to adjust the heat in your house,” said Danny Katz, executive director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group. “And what I found is that you got to tune your furnace every year or so, because the thermostat can get off.”
Adjusting programable thermostats to automatically lower temperatures when the family is away or while you are asleep can go a long way in terms of savings.
Running ceiling fans clockwise can also push warm air downward, offering some savings while keeping your family warm. Switching to LED’s can reduce their energy use up to 90%.
Keeping doors open within your house can also help air circulate more freely and maintain constant heating levels, according to Xcel Energy.
“We spend half of our energy costs on heating and air conditioning, and then over that about 20% on heating our hot water. And so that's a lot of our energy bills,” said Srinidhi Sampath Kumar, a program manager with the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Katz suggests insulating the piping in your home and checking the insulation or weatherization around your doors and windows to make sure you aren’t losing too much heat.
“I think a lot of people, myself included, are living in homes that are 30, 40, 50 or 100 years old, and so there can be a lot of inefficiencies in those homes,” he said.
Katz also likes to open up the blinds on his south-facing windows in the morning to let the Sun naturally help with heating up his home.
Federal incentives to help
Along with simple changes around the house, the federal government passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year, which includes money-saving portions for consumers.
The savings come in two forms: tax credits for people who make adjustments to their homes and rebates to help.
In terms of tax credits, the federal government will reimburse 30% of the cost for transitioning to solar energy. It’s also offering 30% tax credits up to $2,000 per year for people who switch their heat pump systems and heat pump water heaters, as well as their biomass stoves.
“Electrical appliances use one-third of energy that gas appliances use. So, I think on an average, we're just seeing on the efficiency spectrum, it's much more efficient to use electric appliance,” said Sampath Kumar.
For those who replace their air conditioners and heating equipment to more energy efficient ones, the Inflation Reduction Act promises to cover 30% of the cost up to $600 per year for each.
It also offers to cover 30% of the cost for home energy audits up to $150, 30% of the cost up to $500 to replace doors and 30% of the cost up to $600 to replace windows.
While the tax credits are already available, some of the federal rebates are not, but Sampath Kumar expects them to be available for resident by the end of the year.
Local incentives
Some local governments, like Denver, are also offering incentives to help. Beginning Jan. 9, the city started offering climate action rebates to incentivize the switch to all-electric energy equipment. The rebates are offered as an up-front discount to the homeowner, then contractors submit an application to the city for reimbursement.
The program is not available for new builds, and homes that qualify must be single-family units or multi-family buildings of four units or less. Applicants must also be an Xcel Energy customer.
Larger discounts are also available for income-qualified households.
Xcel Energy offers some in-home energy audits to help people identify where they can conserve, while CORE Electric offers a SmartHub platform that gives members their energy usage data hour by hour so they can make energy usage decisions.
Finally, the Colorado Energy Office offers a weatherization assistance program to help income-qualified Coloradans save money. It offers energy audits, conservation education, furnace repair and replacements and more.
