Across Illinois homeowners are seeing unexpected high energy bills and many want to know why. Utilities across the state are reporting record winter electricity demands following the coldest temperatures we've had in decades. But there are a few things residents can do to use electricity efficiently and avoid those higher than normal energy bills. "If you turn your thermostat down for a period of eight hours it drops maybe 15 to 20 degrees by the time you get home from work, how hard is that furnace going to have to work to get back where it needs to be?" It's less than half way into the month of February and already people are sick of the cold, especially after looking at their electric bills. In Coles County alone, costs have doubled and even tripled in some cases, in comparison to last year. Olmsted Brother's Insulation owner Erik Olmsted says one way to lessen this burden is encouraging customers to be more efficient. "Enery efficient, I mean in basic laymen's terms I mean your utility bill is cheaper... so I'm not using as much energy to heat or cool my home." Olmsted says lowering your bills doesn't always mean you have to spend money. Instead, homeowners can simply change their habits for when they aren't at home. "If you're going to be gone for a long period of time especially in the winter time do not turn your thermostat all the way down." He says the consequences for not monitoring your thermostat will equal, empty pockets. "Most home are not that tight, they're going to have an issue heating back up, your furnace is going to run forever and you just didn't save any money because it's running all that time." Olmsted says by simply keeping the dial at a constant temperature, customers can start to see a decrease in their energy bills. "I would definitely leave your heat up about maybe 65 degrees in the home and if you're home is energy efficient you're not going to have a problem, your bills not going to be that much higher." Olmsted says other cost effective ways that customers can reduce their energy bills are turning off and unplugging nonessential lights and appliances. He says you should also avoid using inefficient and costly backup electric space heaters and remember to change your furnace filters.
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