Gephardt Busts Inflation: Saving money and energy when the temperature gets hot

With the help of an old Sugarhouse home, an energy conservation expert, and a little math, the KSL Investigators showed you how relatively small, inexpensive fixes can slash your home heating bill.

It is not rocket science. It’s just figuring out where your home leaks and then doing something about it.

Now with the mercury poised to creep up to near 100 in the coming days, it’s worth noting that similar fixes can work wonders on your utility bills.

“Considering what you can do, in terms of DIY projects, is really important as a homeowner to save costs,” said Courtney Klostermann, home insights pro at Hippo, a property insurance company.

Hippo compiled do-it-your maintenance lists that will help homeowners save money right now. Some are the same tips and tricks that you usually hear in the wintertime, only instead of turning your thermostat down a bit – turn it up a bit. And don’t forget about those filters.

“It’s something that homeowners should be doing – replacing or even just cleaning your air conditioning filters every 30 to 90 days,” Klostermann said.

If you still have incandescent lightbulbs, they produce a lot of heat, so Klostermann says switching to LED bulbs will help cool your home and save energy costs.

Set your ceiling fan to spin counterclockwise. While it won’t cool your room technically, it does cool you by pushing the air straight down.

Don’t fight your A/C – run your dishwasher or dryer in the early morning or late at night. Or if you cranked up your water heater in the cold of winter but haven’t brought it back down, it’s still boiling water all day, every day, even though your hot showers have significantly cooled.

“Those things can actually help save energy and ultimately can help, hopefully, reduce costs,” Klostermann said.

And while not directly tied to the heat, Hippo also recommends maintaining your appliances, as those tend to be some of a homeowner’s biggest expenses when they fail. A little maintenance usually costs a lot less than buying a new appliance because you didn’t maintain the old one.