It’s no secret that Ontarians have some of the highest electricity bills in North America. With recent legislative changes, our outlook in the long term is that we will keep seeing our electricity rates rise. Use these following tips to save on your electricity usage and offset your hydro bill.

Smart Home Thermostats

A smart thermostat uses wifi technology and sensors to automatically regulate your home comfort. This can lead to long-term energy savings. Most home thermostats are programmable, but due to cumbersome design most people do not bother to go the extra step with them.

A smart home thermostat has sensors that can automatically detect whether you are home or away, and it will adjust the temperature accordingly. This allows you to maximize your savings on energy when you are not home, and ensure that you are comfortable when you are at home.

*Note: Enbridge is currently offering a $100 bill credit to people who get a smart home thermostat (NEST or Ecobee3 Lite). For more information on this, feel free to visit their website here.

*Note: For new solar leasing applicants, we are giving away ECOBEE3 SMART THERMOSTATS FOR FREE when you get solar panels installed from us. This promotion is running until Septemeber 30, 2017, and is limited to 16 cities in Ontario. Contact us here for more details.

Washing Machine

When it comes to washing your clothes, it mostly comes down to implementation if you want to save on your electricity costs. We have compiled small list of washer energy saving hacks below:

Our Washer Energy Saving Tips

-Do full loads of laundry rather than several smaller ones

-Use cold water to wash your clothes (this cuts back the washer’s electricity usage by almost 90%)

-Wash your clothes during the off-peak time of use (Monday-Friday before 7am or after 7pm, and weekends)

-Use ENERGY STAR certified washers as they only consume about half as much water / electricity

Reduce Phantom Power Usage With A Smart Power Bar

Phantom power is electricity usage coming from an electronic device that is plugged in, but not in use. Using a programmable power bar allows you to charge your electronics during off-peak time of use hours without ever needing to manually plug in or unplug the power bar. This helps to make life more convenient and also save on energy usage in your home.

LED Lights

The great thing about LED light bulbs is that they have been dropping in price over the last few years and they last for a very long time! A 60W LED bulb lasts an average of 25,000 hours and uses as little as 9W of energy. In comparison, a 60W incandescent light bulb only lasts for about 1,000 hours.

*Note: For new solar leasing applicants, we are throwing in 20 LED Light Bulbs for free upon installation of your solar panel system, courtesy of Polaron Solartech.

*Note: If you are looking to purchase your own LED’s there are annual coupons you can use from the province’s Save ON Energy website. The coupon link is here.

Solar

The government has a program called MicroFIT that allows you to go solar and have the costs covered over time. With MicroFIT, the government buys back all the electricity produced from your home solar panels for 20 years on a guaranteed contract.

Get costs of going solar covered

While you will not directly be saving on your electricity bill through this program, you will get paid for your solar electricity production (for applicants in 2017, the government will pay 28.8c/kwh for all the electricity produced. For eligible homes, that can mean an average income of up to $3500/year.) This covers the costs of purchasing a solar system as well as offsetting the costs of your electricity bill.

There is also a way to get solar panels on your roof at no cost. This is called solar leasing. With solar leasing, you will share the money from the government MicroFIT program with a solar installer, under the agreement that they cover 100% of the upfront costs to go solar and ongoing maintenance.

*Note: This program has already been running for several years and it is close to the government’s procurement target, which means by the end of this year, the will not be accepting any new applications for homeowners to get involved in MicroFIT. We highly suggest those who are interested to take action as soon as they can, while government subsidies are still available. At Reboot Solar, we have options for homeowners to go solar at any budget, including free.

Want to see if your home would qualify for our programs? Contact us here today.