Electricity is a costly necessity for most homeowners. As a result, you are likely trying to find ways to reduce your costs and save money. Unfortunately, there are quite a few electricity myths out there that may be wreaking havoc on your peace of mind and your wallet. Learning the truth about some of these myths can help you save money and protect the electrical components in your home.
Myth 1: Running Your Ceiling Fans Will Cool Rooms
This is incorrect. While ceiling fans can help you feel cooler if you are in the room where they are being used, they don’t actually cool the space. The way a ceiling fan works is by helping to evenly distribute the air that your cooling system is producing. While ceiling fans can help sweat evaporate from your body, which cools you off, it doesn’t cool a room on its own.
As a result, you only need to use your ceiling fans when you are actually in the room. This will help you save energy in two ways:
- You can avoid wasting electricity by running ceiling fans when they aren’t needed
- You can set the thermostat on your air conditioner a little higher since it is being helped by the ceiling fan
While using the ceiling fan is beneficial, it isn’t enough to cool a room on its own.
Myth 2: Changing Your Thermostat Setting Won’t Impact your Energy Use
Don’t worry if you believed this myth – most people do. It is common to think that your cooling or heating system will have to work harder to get to the desired temperature when you arrive home if you have had it set lower or higher while you were gone.
However, you can save up to one percent for each degree if the setback time is a minimum of eight hours. This means on a really hot day, if you are tempted to leave your AC unit set at 75 degrees all day, try to bump it up to 78 degrees instead (or higher) while you are away. When you get home, you can bump it back down, if needed.
Myth 3: A GFCI Outlet Can Protect Your Computer and Other Electronic Devices
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. A GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlet is designed to protect you from an electrical shock. If there is an appliance or equipment issue that results in a GFCI outlet to trip, then yes, it can theoretically help to prevent additional damage. However, that isn’t the intended purpose of this type of outlet.
A GFCI outlet needs to be installed in any room where water is used, such as the laundry room, kitchen or bathroom.
If you want to protect your home and electronics from power surges, then you should look into having whole-house surge protection installed. A professional can help you with this, as well as give you other tips to help save electricity and reduce your costs in your home.