Cold snap drives up power bills as heating systems work harder

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — With the frigid temperatures outside, people are likely doing everything they can to keep their homes warm.

Appalachian Power said many customers see a spike in their bills this time of year because their heating system is having to work harder to warm their home.

Your electricity, your energy, your equipment is working harder,” Izzy Post Ruhland, Appalachian Power spokesperson, said. “Let’s say you set your house at 70 degrees and it’s 75 degrees outside, your heating system is only working to make up a five-degree difference, but now if it’s 30 degrees outside, it’s working to make up a 40-degree difference, and we’ve had temperatures even colder than that.”

Not only is your system working harder, but you’re also likely spending more time at home, increasing your usage.

“In this colder weather, it gets darker early, so you’re using your lights longer. You’re not going out as much. You’re kind of staying home and hunkering in because it’s cold at night and it’s dark, and so there are a lot of factors that just go in,” Post Ruhland said. “People tend to stay home more, and you don’t realize the amount of energy that you’re using in that time, which directly correlates to your bill.”

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Post Ruhland said there are things you can do to try to cut costs.

There are a lot of ways that you can make your house more energy efficient and kind of help insulate it. You know, those little draft stoppers on your door, insulating your windows. Me personally, I’m a big fan of the strength wrap insulation kits. You can buy at your local hardware stores, keeping your curtains closed, letting the sunshine in, and then kind of closing it when the sunshine is out. There are a lot of things that you can do to just kind of help seal up those drafty areas,” she said.

If you’re an Appalachian customer, they have programs to help with drafty spaces.

“We have a great energy efficiency program where someone will come into your house, look for things like that, and help you make the corrections needed to help make your home a little bit more efficient when it comes to heating and cooling,” Post Ruhland said.

Or, if you’re having a hard time with your bill, Appalachian is willing to help.

“If anyone is struggling to pay their bills, as you said, it does jump in the winter, and we understand that can be hard. Folks can reach out to us, and we’ll work with you to kind of, you know, do what we need to do to make the payment plans necessary to help you with that,” Post Ruhland said.