Last updated on March 10th, 2024 at 03:27 pm

The holidays are over, and hopefully they have been good to you. Chances are you received some new gadgets, maybe bought a new one or two, or are planning on improvements with your tax refund.

Now is the time to take stock of your energy usage in your home. Yes, today is time for another energy audit.

Once you have everything settled in place, take a few hours to walk through, measure energy usage, and make some estimations as to how much you will use it. Most people’s energy bills spike after the holidays. Between holiday cooking, new appliances and new electronic gadgets it is easy to see why.

This spike usually dies down as the novelty wears off a little. Think of a child who receives anew video game for the holidays. They play it constantly until the novelty wears off after a month or so. It is the same way with most things – even as adults. We always want to try out our new things.

So, it is important to keep our energy lessons in mind. I’m not saying to cut back on usage and not use your new toys – I’m merely suggesting that by taking stock of what you have in your home and how often you use it, you can accurately estimate how your energy costs will behave over the next few months.