Lots of things affect your energy bill, but obviously, weather is a major factors impacting how much you spend on maintaining a comfortable temperature in your home. In the summer and winter, when temperatures are colder or warmer, we use more power and our bills go up. But weather can affect our energy bills in other ways too. Here's how to understand some of them.
Humidity Affects Our Energy Use
Some homeowners have no idea how much high humidity can affect their energy bills. When humidity is high outdoors, it can also be higher in the home. And in the warm summer months when relative humidity is more than 50 percent inside the home, we feel warmer because we can't perspire and cool off. Higher relative humidity may compel us to turn the air conditioner down and use more power than we ordinarily would.
Fortunately, you can usually control the relative humidity in your home by keeping your air filter changed, making sure the air conditioner is in good working order (that includes inspecting the coils to ensure they are clean) and fixing all leaks that might raise indoor humidity. If necessary, homeowners should consider installing a whole-house dehumidifier to keep relative humidity down.
Extreme Weather Creates More Demand
During a heat or cold wave, there may be more demand for power regionally or nationwide. This can lead to a spike in costs for natural gas and electricity, as costs are determined by supply, demand and storage.
When temperatures soar in the summer, there's more demand for natural gas to generate electricity. Further, high air and water temperatures affect how efficiently power plants can convert fuel into electricity. For instance, nuclear power plants use water to cool down equipment; hot day and night temperatures may inhibit this cooling process so that the plants can't operate properly. Thus, less energy is generated and costs are affected.
Powerful storms that shut down refineries or power plants can also affect the cost of energy.
For more on weather and your energy bill, contact Hartman Brothers of Fort Wayne.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in New Haven, Indiana and surrounding Fort Wayne area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 260-376-2961.