As we all know, living in northwest Montana provides a wonderful lifestyle. However, the region experiences cold winters and hot summers, making it worthwhile to consider an energy audit—especially if your home is more than a few years old. During an energy audit, a certified auditor will test the furnace and hot water heater, perform a blower door test to see how leaky your home is, check your weatherstripping for drafts and more.
Below is a list of companies that offer energy saving assistance to homeowners and renters. Many of them offer kits, assessments, audits. Other options offered are bill credits, or different pricing structures to help customers save even more!
- Northwestern Energy offers virtual or in person home audits through their EnergyCheck program. Afterwards they provide you with a comprehensive report, tips and recommendations and often free energy saving products. They also offer an online survey called EnergySurvey that will provide you with an energy assessment and follow up energy saving recommendations. To learn more or sign up for any of these options please click here.
- Montana Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) offers free audits, weatherization and energy saving products. You must qualify through LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). Applications can be found here.
- Get your home Energy score. Order your energy score -it provides recommendations and usage reports then compares the change in costs if you were to upgrade or fix any issues. This report can also be ordered upon listing your home for sale, added on at the inspection of the home you are buying, or whenever you want to get a better understanding of what else can be improved upon.
If you are just looking for ways to cut energy costs without much hassle, this short list below includes ways to keep bills at bay during the fall and winter months. Northwestern Energy also offers at no or low cost 10 Energy Savings Tips. And Flathead Electric offers these conservation tips.
What you can do on your own
- Utilize the natural light more. Open the blinds on south-facing windows and let the sunlight in. It will warm the house and provide light in rooms during the day. Then close them at night to reduce the cold.
- Insulate or Cover Windows. Heavy duty drapery can help with keeping cold air out of your house. Using insulation kits found at local hardware stores are a very inexpensive way to keep cold air outside and warm air in. Sometimes caulk is needed to seal up leaky windows and can be done quickly and inexpensively.
- Use your thermostat throughout the day. During the hours that you are awake and home, keep the temperature as low as you can handle. While sleeping or gone, drop the temp a good 10 degrees lower than you have it while awake (but during really cold winter days experts say don't drop it below 62 degrees as you don't want your pipes to freeze). Consistently keeping it cooler for 8-10 hours a day can save 10% a year on energy bills. Tip: programmable thermostats can help you change temps consistently and can be set to start warming up as people arrive home from work or school or wake up in the morning.
- Seal air leaks. Similar to sealing up the windows, check gaps around chimneys (if you do not use the fireplace, plug and seal the flue), check where the gas line comes in for the stove, around recessed lighting, and outlets - anywhere that leads to outside. These cracks or holes allow warm air to escape and the cold air to come in. Local hardware stores have weatherstripping for doors and caulk for the DIYer or call a handyman to come fix the leaks for you.
- Routine maintenance. Keep up with yearly or seasonal checkups on the furnace or heat pump, change filters, clean the fireplace, etc.. Overworking the systems because of a dirty filter or clogged pipe will lead to trouble and higher energy costs.
- Regulate the water heater. Lower the temperature to 120 degrees, which helps prevent burns and keeps costs down.
- Strategically choose Holiday lights or decorative features outside. Make the switch to LED bulbs for Holiday lights and outdoor fixtures. Keep outside lights on timers so they shut off when it is daylight instead of later in the morning. Try to choose bulbs or light strands with ENERGY STAR® ratings or find outdoor lighting with solar charging options.
Other ways to save:
- Flathead Electric's Demand Charge. Customers can lower their bill and save by using energy in off-peak times. If you need to do laundry and run other appliances at the same time such as your dishwasher you can save money by avoiding doing them all at once during the 5:00pm-8:00pm peak hours. Read more about that here.
- Northwest Energy Offers Budget Billing so that you monthly bills are the same every month and don't catch you by surprise. Flathead Electric also offers Budget Billing as well as Flex Pay where you can pre-pay your energy use so you don't overspend. However, your electricity may not remain active if you reach your prepaid limit.
Most utility companies offer ways to save on bills and emissions. Simply search their website if you do not see your company listed above. A little bit of conservation will help not only your wallet but the environment, too!
