Cold Weather Brings Higher Energy Usage

Posted on Jan 27, 2021 at 12:00 AM

Cold days and nights in December and January brought true winter temperatures to the Tri-County service area. After a warm November, many members noticed a jump in their electric bill. 

“Cold temperatures really drive up energy usage, particularly for heat pumps when the low temps drop below 30 degrees,” said Greg Mullis, VP of Corporate Services.  “On these colder days, electric heat pumps automatically use back-up auxiliary heat - also known as emergency or strip heat - to bring up the temperature. While effective, this auxiliary heat uses much more energy.” 

Homes that use resistance electric furnaces and space heaters can see an even more dramatic increase in usage on cold days. “Space heaters are not an efficient way to heat the entire home. They are great for taking the chill out of a small room if used just a few minutes at a time, but they are not energy efficient, and are much more costly than heat pumps.” 

To learn more about your energy usage, we encourage you to complete a Virtual Energy Assessment on our tri-countyemc.com. In addition to the assessment, you’ll see resources to calculate how much energy you are using with your appliances and some simple tips to help you conserve energy. To avoid any unexpected surprises on your bill, sign up for daily feedback about your energy usage using the myTCEMC app. More information on these tools is on page 2. 

As always, if you think you are experiencing extreme usage, contact us at 1.866.254.8100.  (59416002)

 

Manage Your Energy Usage
Getting the most for your energy dollar is important. You want a comfortable home with good indoor air quality and reasonable energy bills. By using information and guidelines from our online Energy Efficiency Center, you can do simple things to cut down your energy usage. Visit www.tri-countyemc.com/energy-calculator.cms to learn more.

For winter energy tips, visit https://www.tri-countyemc.com/energy-saving-tips.cms.

 

  • Categories:
  • Custom News
  • Tags:
  • high energy usage
  • cold weather
  • high bill