By Snohomish County PUD
Once the calendar rolled over to 2024, winter roared to life in the Puget Sound.
Earlier this month, our region, and much of the country, was in the grip of a severe cold snap. In the Puget Sound region, we saw temperatures dip into the single digits for the first time in a long time.
The extremely cold temperatures and volatile weather was an important reminder for PUD customers to conserve energy, be prepared for outages and protect water pipes from freezing.
For electric customers, cold temperatures can mean higher bills. It’s important to remember that the greater the difference between the outside temperature and your thermostat setting, the more energy it will take to heat your home or business.
The PUD recommends setting thermostats at 68 degrees when customers are home and awake and 55 degrees when away or asleep to conserve energy and save money on their bill. On average, each degree you lower your thermostat can equal a 1-3% reduction on your bill. When the temperatures dive below freezing, that can equal substantial savings.
Here are some other tips to conserve energy during extremely cold weather:
• Practice zone heating and lighting by heating only occupied rooms and turning off lights in rooms not being used.
• Open shades on south-facing windows during the day to use the natural warmth of the sun to warm rooms and give furnaces and heat pumps a break.
• Seal up drafty doors with door sweeps to prevent cold air from entering a home or business.
As temperatures plunge below freezing, frozen pipes can be an expensive inconvenience. The PUD recommends taking the following precautions to prevent frozen water pipes:
• Never leave a garden hose attached to the faucet in freezing weather. Disconnect and drain hoses.
• Insulate backflow devices and outside faucets with newspaper, rags or other insulating material. Cover with plastic and secure with string or wire.
• Let cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes.
• Locate the main shutoff valve to your home and make sure to show household members how to turn off water to the house in case of an emergency.
For PUD customers, outages were not a significant issue during the most recent cold snap. But snow accumulation can result in power outages, so it’s wise to be prepared. The PUD encourages customers to have at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food and water available in case of an outage. Also keep cell phones charged and bookmark the PUD’s Outage Map at snopud.com/outagemap, where they can report their outage and sign up for outage text alerts.
Visit snopud.com/winterprep for an emergency preparedness kit list.
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