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Insights > Save money and stay warm this winter
Save money and stay warm this winter
12/11/2024
As winter approaches, heating systems will start running full blast, causing a spike in energy usage. However, staying warm and comfortable doesn’t have to come at the cost of high energy bills. By making a few simple changes around your home, you can improve its energy efficiency and keep costs down throughout the colder months.
Air leaks and inefficient HVAC systems can lead to an additional $400 in home energy costs each year. Rather than cranking up the thermostat as temperatures drop, try these affordable or even free tips to reduce your energy use and save money.
Prepare for cold weather
Keep heating costs low all season long by taking these tips to improve your home’s energy efficiency:
- Use solar energy: Open curtains on the south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat the home and close them at night to reduce the chill from cold windows.
- Insulate drafty windows: Use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of window frames and make sure the plastic is sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration.
- Adjust the thermostat: When you are home and awake, set the thermostat as low as is comfortable, but when you are asleep or out of the house, turn the thermostat back to save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills.
- Find and seal leaks: Seal air leaks around utility cut-throughs for pipes and recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets.
- Maintain heating systems: Schedule routine service for home heating systems and replace furnace and heat pump filters once a month or as needed.
- Reduce heat loss from the fireplace: Keep the fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning and check the seal on the fireplace flue damper and make it as snug as possible.
By following these simple steps, you can stay warm and comfortable all winter long while keeping your energy bills under control.
We also offer free comprehensive residential energy audits and rebates to help reduce the upfront cost of installing energy-efficient equipment. Visit entergy.com/energyefficiency for more information.
Bill management resources
Entergy’s newly launched online Bill Toolkit connects customers to bill management, energy efficiency and financial assistance resources. This new resource helps our customers explore simple ways they can lower their electricity use and costs.
Track your energy use
Bill management tools like myAdvisor empower our customers to set electricity usage alerts and monitor how much energy they use each day. Tracking electricity use over time can help customers identify habits that contribute to higher use and budget their monthly expenses. With their myAdvisor dashboard, customers have access to usage and cost details, bill history, bill projections and analyzer tools and more.
Manage your bills your way
Entergy offers several flexible payment options so customers can choose when, where and how they receive their bills.
- Pick-A-Date allows customers to pay their bills when it works best for them.
- Level Billing allows customers to “level out” seasonal energy use fluctuations, making their bills more consistent every month.
- PaperFREE billing allows customers to get their bills emailed as soon as they post and instant access to two years of billing history.
- AutoPay allows customers to avoid late fees, writing checks and paying for postage by having bills automatically deduct from their bank accounts.
Entergy encourages customers who may need additional payment options to reach out. To see if customers automatically qualify for deferred payment arrangements or payment extensions, they can visit our mobile app or myEntergy.
