Every home’s got that room. You know the one, it’s barely used, mostly just there to hold spare bedding, off-season clothes, or that weird decorative lamp your aunt gave you. Most of the time, it just sits in peace, untouched and forgotten. Well, until your electricity bill shows up looking a little rude.
Oh yeah, definitely a rude awakening, right? Well, it turns out, even rooms that aren’t getting any love can quietly rack up costs without you realizing it. And yep, your guest room might be sneakily dragging up your bill just by existing. So, of course, you want to do what you can to boost your eco-credentials at home, and yeah, when it comes to the house, you might want to keep an extra close eye on that spare room.
The Room is Still Active
Okay, so here’s the thing that you really need to remember: if your heating or AC is running in there, then that room is living like royalty, climate-controlled and all, while you’re paying the tab. So most houses aren’t zoned to treat each room differently, so unless you’ve manually closed the vents or turned something off, it’s just soaking up that sweet, sweet HVAC power.
Besides, add in a lamp or two you never unplug, maybe an old TV that’s still blinking from 2009, and you’ve got a bunch of energy use for a room no one’s even in. In that case, what’s even the point, right? Well, in this case, when it comes to your average electric bill, you should try and cut it. Usually, closing the vents and unplugging everything is a smart way to go about it (and that’s pretty quick and easy to do, right?).
It’s the Little Stuff that Adds Up
Even if nothing’s technically turned on, loads of things still draw energy when they’re plugged in. So, that mini fridge for guest snacks? Well, it’s still humming. How about the electric blanket from last winter? It’s probably on standby.
Oh, and chargers, clocks, old tech, it all adds up, too. And if you’re using that room for storage (and that’s what most people use spare rooms for), well, it’s easy to forget what’s plugged in behind all those boxes. But overall, energy gets wasted silently, like a ghost bill you didn’t ask for.
You Should Give that Room a Mini-Reset
So you don’t have to lock the door and banish the guest room forever. But a few easy tweaks could stop it from being such a budget vampire. Instead, you should just close the vents when they’re not in use. Unplug anything that doesn’t actually need power 24/7. Maybe put lamps and devices on a switchable power strip so you can actually shut everything down in one go.
But you could even consider something like a smart thermostat with room sensors can help make sure your heating and cooling aren’t throwing money at an empty room.
Give the Room a Real Job
If the guest room’s just sitting there looking pretty (and expensive), maybe it’s time to give it a proper job. Really, what’s the point of having a room that never gets used, right? Well, why not a low-energy hobby room? A nap zone with blackout curtains? A home office that actually gets used? Basically, the goal isn’t to turn it into a utility closet, but if you’re paying for it, it might as well pull its weight a bit.
Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom 
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