Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

Message from the Consumers' Counsel:

Ways to save energy this holiday season

The holidays are a time of joy and togetherness with family and friends. Memories are built around Christmas trees, menorahs and kinaras. But your utility bills can be quickly forgotten as you build these memories. Utility costs during the holidays can be some of the most expensive bills Ohioans pay all year. Contributing to the higher use of energy are cooking large meals for immediate and extended families, decorating trees and homes and keeping everyone warm and comfortable while together.

There are a variety of ways to help defray increased utility costs. Programmable thermostats, LED lights and making small adjustments to your cooking routine are just a small sample of the changes that can be made this holiday season to save on utility bills.

Programmable Thermostats

One of the easiest ways to save money on heating bills is to install a programmable thermostat. Once it is properly set, you can save about $200 per year in energy costs. With more people in your home during the holidays, you may be able to alter the settings down even further.

There are several options available for programmable thermostats. Keep these items in mind when choosing a model:

1. Make sure to choose an ENERGY STAR-rated model
2. Select a model that will be compatible with the home’s heating and cooling system
3. Consider the schedules of all people in the household when deciding the best model
4. Look for easy-to-follow instructions that make installation and programming as easy as possible

LED Lights

The prospect of decorating your home with enough lights to make Clark Griswold jealous can be a beautiful sight year after year, but stringing up thousands and thousands of lights can be a sight of a different kind when the electric bill finally arrives in the mail.

Light-emitting diodes, or LED lights, are the best option available for saving the most electricity this holiday season. The traditional, large C7 and C9 colored stringed lights use 5-7 watts per bulb, but some older strands can use as much as 10 watts per bulb. Miniature lights use about 25 watts per 50 bulbs. The LED equivalent uses 80 percent to 90 percent less energy than its traditional counterpart while still emitting the same brightness. Additionally, LED holiday lights last 100,000 hours or more, so they will not need to be replaced anytime soon after purchase. LED holiday lights now only have a minimal increased cost over the traditional version.

Cooking Tips

Most kitchen appliances are given a workout during the holidays. This workout also means your utility bills could reach unexpected levels. But there are several things you can do to keep costs under control. When cooking with your oven, keep the door closed as much as possible. Each time it is opened, the internal temperature can fall dramatically causing increased cooking time and wasted energy. Choosing the proper cookware can also help the process. Materials like glass and ceramic conduct heat more efficiently than some metals, allowing food to cook just as quickly at lower temperatures.

For stovetop cooking, choose pots and pans that fully cover the burner. This reduces the amount of heat that escapes into the air. By covering pots and pans with a lid, cooking time can be reduced by a third. Also consider using alternative appliances to cook your holiday meals. Toaster ovens, microwaves, slow cookers and skillets use a fraction of the energy that a stove uses.

With these money-saving tips, you can rest easy that you are doing your part to conserve energy and minimize increased utility bills during the holidays.

Happy holidays!

Janine L. Migden-Ostrander