There are bound to be areas of your home where you can improve efficiency and save money. Energy use is affected by heating and cooling, appliances, lighting, and lifestyle. Understanding how and where your home is using energy is the first step to savings. As a starting point, consider making smaller changes that have fewer upfront costs and less energy savings. After that, you can focus on significant and more expensive items that have more noticeable impact on your energy bill.

In a perfect world, your best option is to hire a trained professional to conduct an energy audit of your home. The good news is advanced technology can help you start the process without spending a a lot of money. In fact, you can understand your energy use and perform a virtual home energy review with your smartphone.

Cass County Electric Mobile App
Starting your virtual home energy audit is as easy as downloading the free Cass County Electric Mobile App. Inside the app, you can observe your energy use patterns with graphs that illustrate how much energy you are using on an hourly/daily/monthly basis. With this information, you will potentially see money-saving opportunities. It’s a great way to begin conducting a virtual audit from the palm of your hand.

Home Energy Devices
There are many “smart home” devices on the market that provide valuable insight into your energy use and home activity. You can track energy use over time, receive real-time notifications when electronics are turned on or off, and identify savings potential. One tool that Cass County Electric utilizes is called the Sense Meter. Visit their website at sense.com to learn more.

Trusted Websites
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Home Energy Saver
(http://hes.lbl.gov/consumer) is one reliable virtual resource. Along with the wealth of energy information provided by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives at togetherwesave.com, the room-by-room virtual home tour highlights ways you can save energy throughout your home.

As energy advisors, we are here to offer unbiased advice to our consumer-members considering changes to your energy needs. If you are looking for information on an energy audit or making a change to your heating and cooling system, advising our consumer-members on wise energy use is why our energy management experts are here. Contact them at 701-356-4400.

Virtual Energy Tour: https://adventure.touchstoneenergy.com/