The logistical and emotional struggles that come with moving to a new home or rental are plentiful. Throw in two young children, and it feels like juggling while riding a unicycle on a tightrope.

As my family unpacked and tried to restore some semblance of normalcy after our recent move, we discovered our new home wasn’t as energy efficient as we had hoped.

Our thermostat was outdated, our doors were drafty and nearly all our ceiling lights had old incandescent bulbs.

We knew it would affect our comfort — and our energy bills — if we didn’t make some changes. But tackling a home improvement project felt daunting, especially as were still settling in.

Luckily, we found a host of energy efficiency resources at our fingertips — on pge.com.

Finding low-cost options that didn’t require a large time commitment were the most appealing as we re-established a family routine in our new digs.

After some online research, the answer was clear: building an Energy Efficiency Do-It-Yourself Tool Kit was going to be the fastest, most budget-friendly way to make the improvements we needed.

You can get all items in the tool kit for under $200. Our total was higher at $261, because we chose an Energy Star-rated smart thermostat. This cost was offset by the $75 rebate we received through the Golden State Rebates program — definitely a win!

Once our materials arrived, our energy efficiency journey became a family affair. Our boys helped us unbox many of the items and enjoyed using the thermal detector around our doors and windows to identify leaks. 

After a few hours (and snack breaks) our new thermostat, LED bulbs, and weather stripping were in place. What we feared would be a long, expensive process turned out to be a low-cost weekend project.

We know investing in energy efficiency early on doesn’t just address our immediate concerns; it will save us hundreds of dollars a year on future energy bills. Another bonus? An energy-efficient home helps reduce pollution, which is a great way to teach our boys about taking care of the environment.

Interested in building an Energy Efficient DIY Tool Kit? Read more at pge.com/winter.

About the author

Adrienne Moore joined PG&E’s Marketing and Communications team in 2023. A busy mom of two boys, she is passionate about helping customers save energy and money, sharing energy efficiency tips and tools, and making bill support programs easy to understand and accessible for all. Her goal is to ensure customers feel supported when managing their energy needs.