NEW ORLEANS — With many locals turning up the thermostat to combat a recent winter weather cold snap, Entergy is offering up a few free or low-cost steps to make your home more energy efficient to help save money on your utility bills.
Entergy New Orleans, LLC provides electricity to more than 200,000 customers and natural gas to more than 108,000 customers, and with many of those users still working or taking on other activities from home due to the pandemic, managing and conserving your energy usage is more important than ever.
According to Entergy, heating and air conditioning can account for more than 50 percent of a home’s energy usage. Setting the thermostat to 68 degrees during the winter months is an easy way to reduce your energy usage. Every degree above 68 degrees can increase your bill by about 3 percent. So, if you crank it up to 78 degrees, for example, you could add 30 percent to your bill.
Adjusting the thermostat is not the only way you can help keep your heater or other appliances from going into overdrive; you also can:
- Seal air leaks. Install weather stripping around your doors, windows and any location where there may be a path between the inside and outside of your home or business.
- Conserve hot water. Wrap your electric water heater with a water heater blanket that can be found at local home improvement stores and set the thermostat to 120 degrees or medium.
- Keep all doors and windows closed. Constant opening will let out the warm air, forcing your heater to work harder to keep the room at the set temperature.
- Ensure fans are turning the right way. Fans should be run at a low speed clockwise during the winter. This helps keep the cold air from blowing down on you.
- Keep the air circulating. Do not block heat registers or air returns with curtains or furniture.
- Leverage the sun. During the day, open your curtains and blinds to let in the warm sunlight. Close them at night to reduce heat loss.
Additionally, you can save energy and money through valuable rebates and incentives on a variety of energy-efficient appliances, products and upgrades through our online marketplace. Entergy Louisiana customers can visit Entergy Solutions – An Entergy Louisiana program at EntergySolutionsLA.com and Entergy New Orleans customers can visit EnergySmart – A New Orleans Program at EnergySmartNOLA.info.
Both programs offer free in-home assessments and rebates to help reduce the up-front cost of installing energy-efficient equipment such as high-efficiency HVAC tune-ups, insulation, air sealing and duct sealing. Also, customers can take advantage of a virtual assessment option.
For those struggling to pay their utility bills due to the pandemic, Entergy has made flexible payment arrangements available through its Enhanced Customer Assistance plan. We also offer bill help for low-income customers, older adults and customers with disabilities through Entergy’s The Power to Care program and the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. To learn more about these options, visit Entergy.com/covid-19/assistance/ and select your location.