OUC gives energy saving and safety tips for tonight's cold weather
ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - OUC announced today they are ready to provide extra power for home heating systems during this cold snap, as all OUC power generation and transmission systems are ready to go and extra crews will be standing by through the evening and early morning hours.
OUC also wants to remind customers to be safe when keeping warm. They recommend the following energy saving and safety tips to stay comfortable during the cold weather:
- Set your thermostat to 68 degrees. For each degree above 68, the heating portion of your bill will increase four to six percent.
- Heating may account for more than half of a home’s energy use this week.
- Turn the heater down or off when no one is home.
- Set the thermostat fan to auto and replace dirty filters to allow your system to operate as efficiently as possible.
- Keep portable heaters at least three feet away from furniture, bedding, walls, clothing and other flammable items.
- An electric blanket can help keep you warm on a cold night, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions and make sure to turn it off and unplug it when not in use.
- Never tuck in an electrical blanket.
- Never use your stove or oven to heat your home.
- If temperatures drop below freezing, cover any exposed water pipes and leave pool pumps running.
- If the sun does come out today, open drapes and blinds to let the sun’s warmth in. Then, close those drapes and blinds tonight.
- Check under doors and around windows for cool air coming in and seal these areas.
- You can set a ceiling fan to run in the clockwise direction. Doing so, will force warmer air towards the floor.
Customers can report outages by calling OUC's 24-hour Emergency Service hotline at 407-423-9018.