Mar 29, 2022 | Energy Efficiency
Earth Day is a great opportunity to take small, easy steps to make your home more energy efficient so you can save money year-round.
Plus, by becoming more energy efficient, you can make a real impact on the world. Efficiency is good for the planet. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions, decreases water use, and helps create a healthy environment for us all.*
Here are ten easy tips to help you spring into action today.
- Plant trees and shrubs to provide shade on the sunniest sides of your home.
- Allow hot foods to cool before putting them in the refrigerator – storing hot food makes your fridge work harder to cool it down.
- With the weather warming up, consider cooking a few meals outside to reduce the amount of heat inside your home.
- Use light-colored window coverings to help reflect heat away from entering your home.
- Use motion sensors for your outdoor lights. That way, they’ll only use energy when they’re on.
- Install LED light bulbs in your most frequently used lights – kitchens and bathrooms are a great place to start.
- Combine printers, computers, monitors, TVs, game consoles and other electronics on easily accessible smart power strips that can be switched off when not in use.
- Add weather stripping to drafty doors and windows.
- Combine fans with air conditioning – a fan can allow you to raise the thermostat setting and still stay comfortable.
- Wash and rinse laundry with cold water whenever possible.
For more tips — and to check out our full offering of energy efficiency rebates and programs — visit savewithppl.com.
Mar 22, 2022 | Energy Efficiency
Spring cleaning isn’t just the perfect time to tidy up, get organized and get ready for summer. It’s also a great way to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Yes, really! Cleaning and organizing can positively impact the performance of electronics and appliances of all kinds—and that can have a real effect on your energy bills. Let’s look at ways to clean up devices throughout the house.
Electronics
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- Use smart power strips to reduce “vampire power” loads. Vampire power is energy drained from the wall by your appliances even when they are in sleep mode or turned off. A “smart strip” can automatically cut power to devices you’re not using. Choose the best smart power strip for you with this handy chart from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
- Plug groups of electronics that you use at the same time—like your TV and gaming console—into the same smart strip. You can pick a strip that turns off automatically at a certain time or one that turns off everything when you power down a key appliance.
- Refrigerator
- Check the door seal. Sticky foods can prevent the fridge door from sealing. Wipe it clean with warm soapy water.
- Clean your condenser coil. Dust can collect on the coil, making it work harder and longer—while raising your energy bill. You can clean it yourself with an inexpensive coil cleaning brush, or hire someone to do it for you.
- HVAC system
- Your heating and cooling system uses more energy than anything else in your home. Routine maintenance, like replacing or cleaning air filters, can lower your cooling system’s energy consumption by up to 15%. And spring is the perfect season to call your HVAC professional for a yearly inspection and cleaning.
As always, stay safe and follow all appliance and electronics instruction manuals. If you’re unsure about how to best clean an appliance, don’t be afraid to call a professional. They can get the job done right and maybe even give you a few pointers for next time.
Happy spring cleaning!
Mar 18, 2022 | Bill Help
If you’re struggling to pay your bill or are facing a shut-off, we have programs and payment agreements to help you catch up.
Programs for income-eligible customers
LIHEAP: Apply for free federal grants to help with your home heating bills and emergencies.
OnTrack: Get a lower fixed monthly payment. If you have a past-due balance, you’ll also receive debt forgiveness.
Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP): If you rent your home and your income was impacted by the pandemic, you may qualify for free grants to help with your rent and utility bills. Many of our customers have already taken advantage of this federal program. In fact, PPL Electric customers have claimed more than $6 million in ERAP funds so far, and there are still millions of dollars remaining in the program.
Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund (PAHAF): If you own a home and can show that your income has gone down or your living expenses have gone up as a result of the pandemic, you may be eligible for free money to help with your mortgage and utility bills.
Operation HELP: Apply for a cash grant to help with home heating bills.
WRAP: See if you qualify for free energy efficiency products to help save energy and money.
Programs for all customers
Payment agreements: We can set you up with an agreement to pay down your bill over time.
Budget billing: We’ll average your electric use over the entire year so your bill amount will be more predictable.
CARES: If you’re experiencing a temporary hardship, such as illness or injury, you may qualify for protection from shut-off.
Not sure where to start?
Sign into your online profile at pplelectric.com and click “Get Help Paying.” We’ll ask you a few questions about your household and financial information and recommend the programs that will benefit your family most.
Mar 4, 2022 | Energy Efficiency
The PPL Business Energy Efficiency Program offers business customers high incentives for energy efficiency projects such as lighting, compressed air, refrigeration, HVAC, combined heat and power, and more. Our kW savings are based on summer peak demand. This video explains the difference between kWh and kW and how to maximize energy savings to leverage our incentive structure. For more information, visit pplelectric.com/businessrebates.
Jan 3, 2022 | Reliability
When there’s a problem — or a fault — on a power line, it can cause power outages for our customers. But thanks to a game-changing new system, these problems impact fewer customers than ever. The new system, created by our own engineering teams and vendor partners, uses smart devices that interrupt faults remotely. They’re called “vacuum reclosers.”
We place them on power lines to monitor the flow of electricity. When a sensor on a line detects a problem, the nearest recloser automatically cuts power from that point in the line. Instead of every customer on the line losing power, only customers downstream of the recloser device are impacted. Then, our crews work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power to everyone who is out.
In November 2021, we installed the first vacuum recloser on a transmission line and plan to install more of these devices at locations that will provide the most benefit to our customers.
This is just one example of our commitment to innovate and invest in technologies that improve reliability.
