- I have the five best ways to lower your home energy bill
and these are not tips that everyone's heard of.
These are saving secrets.
(soft music)
And I'm also giving away one of my secrets today
and no, this is not just a regular heater,
and hi, I'm the YouTube Deal Guy, Matt Granite.
If you've never seen me before, I unbox the biggest deals,
I give all my favorite items away for free to you,
my frugal family, love you guys for watching
and I know you're all probably overpaying
when it comes to your electrical bill
and many tricks that you can employ within your home
can make a world of difference.
I'm gonna take you through my home,
show you what I use, and what can change the amount of money
you pay.
Let's start with a smart thermostat.
And this is not just one of the ways
to yell at your Echo and your Google Home
and ask it to adjust your temperature
because you don't want to walk over.
I've lived in student housing and apartments
smaller than any closet you've ever had
in Toronto and New York and I've also lived in a condo
and then now a house and I've learned that it makes
a world of difference the technology that you have,
not just in terms of being able to program it,
but really smart features that may not come to mind.
So for example, with my Eco B, and this is what you can see
I have set up, the thermostat is on the main floor
of the home, but what happens if the temperature
is drastically different on different floors
through your house?
I happen to live in a very vertical home
and it allows you to incorporate other sensors,
where if the temperature drops or is very hot
on one floor, the thermostat isn't overcompensating.
It takes a general median temperature reading for your house
and then adjusts accordingly, which is great.
You can also allow your phone to sync with it
and many other Nest thermostats as well
where when you're within a certain mile radius
of your home, it can kick the air conditioning
into full gear so it's a little bit more comfortable
when you're home or just warm it up a little bit
without you having to crank the thermostat
before you go out.
It also has vacation reminders.
Many of the programmable smart thermostats
have additional sensors where it registers
whether or not you are on vacation or the home is occupied
and a great way to regulate your temperature
when you forget, you can of course
adjust your home remotely, saving you tons of money.
It also graphs your usage onto charts where you can see
where you are overusing and where maybe
you don't need to compensate so much.
Now that's great for air conditioning and heating,
but when it comes to heat, this was costing me
almost $65 a month to run in our studio.
Our studio was frigid and I wanted to make it
a little bit more comfortable.
Aside from the fact that many space heaters
could be fire hazards and many are the leading cause
of household fires in the winter,
a ceramic heater can make a world of difference.
This one is a little bit bigger.
They cost almost the same thing,
and by the way, I actually found a deal on this
located right under the video screen,
but this heats up in a much more efficient way
and let me show this to you in action
before we get to three other awesome ways
to cut your home energy costs.
Right off the bat, you're gonna see how light this is.
I am lifting this with my pinkie
and I am extremely weak.
This is 30% lighter than most heaters you will see.
Inside is what makes a world of difference for your home.
Say hello to safe convection comfort for your home
with 1500 watts of comforting warmth
and a virtually silent operation,
this is one of the most effective ways
to take that chill out of your home.
If you're constantly reaching for the thermostat
to overheat the areas of your home
that don't need the heat to compensate
for the cold corners that do, this is your key
to save on your overall energy costs.
More than $100 is what these usually run for.
I found it for under 70.
Free delivery with an adjustable thermostat,
safe around kids, pets, and the most awesome way
to get the job done.
This deal, which is not a paid product,
is on our website.
I know you've heard many times,
keep the fridge door closed, but did you know
that if you keep your fridge or freezer full,
you can also save money?
Food acts as insulation and that lessens the amount of time
that the fridge has to run to stay cool
and that is a great way to lower your home energy costs
by up to 20%, depending on how big your fridge
happens to be.
Now as I get to my third suggestion,
I know many of you are gonna wonder what is going on,
he's talking about electric and you heat your home maybe
with propane or natural gas,
but when you're plugging things like this in
or your hot water tank is overcompensating,
which is plugged into a power source.
Oh, by the way, a non-tip, you might already know this,
sometimes if you are in a rental,
your hot water tank is programmed
at a very high temperature where it doesn't need
to heat the whole tank as often,
so you can adjust manually within the tank
if you have access to your hot water tank in a home.
You could also consider a tankless heater
if you're not renting and there was a way to do that.
I installed that in my home and it makes
a world of difference.
Okay, I recommend an energy audit.
Many utility companies will offer a free home energy audit.
Well worth taking advantage of.
If there isn't a program in your area,
you could perhaps find a company that will do that.
Why would you want a home energy audit?
Many of us will start replacing doors and windows
immediately assuming that that's where cold air
is leaking in, other issues within the summer.
That may not be the case.
I had a home energy audit and one of the things
that I learned, well, I needed to install
some dimmer switches, which brings me to my next tip.
As you can see, my ceiling is covered in pot lights,
which, again, eventually were replaced with LED lights,
but without dimmers, the lights are working
to their full potential when they do not need to be.
Sometimes just having a little bit more control
over the light that's emitted can lower
your home energy costs and your electric costs
in a big way.
Now the number one tip as part of my top five,
or maybe I did six, I'm not really sure,
but I want to focus on one of the leading causes
of energy leaks in your home and that's phantom power.
A recent study shows that 75% of the energy used
by home electronics is actually consumed
when they're turned off.
That could be a computer, a DVR, or some kitchen appliance.
You can easily take back control of your devices
by using surge protected power strips
or smart phone chargers that don't overcharge
your device and also stop consuming power
when the device is no longer plugged in.
Now I know for those of you that have seen me before,
before I get to the giveaway,
you're used to me saving 10, 15, 100 bucks
on tech, but it's the day to day expenditures
that affect us all, your mortgage payments,
your utility bills, your home energy costs.
When I can help you cut the cord,
when I can help you save money on what really adds up
over time, that's where I really think,
in my personal opinion, I can be of use to you
and that's where I think this channel is a great place
for all of us to get together.
You let me know what you want to save money on
and I attack those projects head on.
So from home automation to DIY
to wherever it is you want to save money,
it adds up very quickly day to day
and that's why I'm here for you.
So thank you, okay.
(claps)
Freebie time!
Using Two Buddies random selection tool
to find a subscriber who's commented
in the last six months, congratulations goes to
Rachel Kennedy and, great, not only is this
an avid subscriber and viewer,
but she wanted to know if I could do a video
on smart fitness accessories.
(claps)
Absolutely not!
I don't like the gym and I don't do fitness.
Totally kidding.
I mean, that's true about the gym, but I will hook you up
and actually I've got other people to help me with that
and I had a smart scale deal not too long ago
and I will work on other products,
wearables and things like that
and it's because of comments like this
I know what you need to save money on
so good job Rachel.
And yes!
Rachel won the heater, not this one
which cost me also $65 to run, which is now used.
I'm gonna give you what I bought for my home,
and again the deal link if you do want to buy this
is located right under this video screen.
Just expand the video description box.
Alright!
You're not subscribed, no reason to be worried,
I've got a way to hook you up right now.
Click on my head right here.
Hello, not creepy, I know.
That'll subscribe you to the channel.
If you need help turning on your notifications
or leaving a comment, click here
and that last big random deals I featured
is right over here and I should mention
this is very lightweight because I'm able to do this
and I'm weak.
Awesome!