Dec. 4, 2015
Most families use checklists when they leave on vacation to make sure the house is secure and they don’t forget to take anything important with them—like their phone charger. But no one wants to return and find any unexpected surprises with home energy costs, either.
Here are a few simple, energy-related tips that will help:
- If you plan to have a few lights on a timer come on in the evenings, consider using efficient LED lights.
- Turn the heat to a lower setting, but no lower than 55 degrees to avoid water line freeze-ups.
- Turn off electronic devices that consume power all the time, such as monitors, printers, DVD players and other home office and entertainment equipment. Make sure they stay off while you’re away by plugging them into a smart power strip.
- Sign up for auto-pay for your Great Lakes Energy account and other accounts to ensure your payments get made while you’re gone.
- Login to your online GLE account and check your kilowatt-hour use to see if any electricity is being used while you’re away. No power could be a sign that you successfully turned off everything before you left or there could be an outage. If you suspect an outage, call us. Dispatchers can send a signal to the automated meter at your house and know within minutes whether power is getting to it
Enjoy your getaway knowing that Great Lakes Energy looks out for you even when you’re gone.
