Can Fiber Internet Lower Your Energy Bill This Winter?

There’s no shortage of winter energy saving tips out there on the Internet. With the availability of fiber-optic internet on the rise, you might have recently heard this one: That, since energy efficiency is one of the benefits of fiber optic cable, you could potentially save on your home energy bills by switching to fiber.

If fiber is available in your area, there are many good reasons to switch — but is energy efficiency one of them? Below, we’ll take a quick look at how fiber’s energy usage stacks up against traditional cable internet and see whether switching to fiber is likely to deliver energy savings for your home this winter.

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Fiber Internet: Let There Be Light

Here’s the simplified story of how fiber works: Traditional DSL or cable internet transmits information as electrical signals over copper-based cables. Fiber internet, by contrast, works via glass-based cables that transmit ultra-fast light pulses across their thousands of fine glass strands. This fundamental difference is how fiber gets its advantage in speed, reliability, and energy efficiency.

Fiber internet is the technology that experts say currently offers the best internet service speeds available — and probably will for the foreseeable future. For many years, fiber internet service was available only in a few large cities, but today, it’s available to over half of US households. While fiber access remains a work in progress, it continues to expand and offer a promising path toward high-quality internet access for all.

Energy Costs of Traditional Internet

Traditional home internet uses electricity at every stage of production. The global internet itself, including the many millions of data centers and servers, uses about 10 percent of all the world’s electricity. Your home internet devices like WiFi routers and smart appliances also use electricity, though WiFi itself uses only a relatively small amount.

Does Fiber Internet Use Less Energy?

Fiber internet has a major inherent advantage in energy efficiency versus cable. Since it uses light rather than magnetic waves to transmit information, fiber consumes significantly less electricity than other internet technologies. Fiber internet is also what’s called a “passive networking” technology, meaning it doesn’t need to use electrical devices like amplifiers in its transmission network.

That means, overall, that fiber could present an opportunity for significant energy savings. As fiber internet infrastructure becomes widespread, we can hope to see more energy-efficient networks taking the lead in reducing the amount of energy that our connected lifestyles consume.

How Much Energy Can I Save With Fiber Internet?

So, with such substantial energy efficiency, is switching to fiber a winning strategy for energy savings? Here’s the truth: Fiber certainly can save you money on your electric bill, but it’s not a guarantee, and the average energy savings from switching to fiber are likely to be fairly small for most people.

That’s because, for most people, home internet service itself is not a major driver of electricity usage.  Internet-connected devices like TVs, computers, and smart appliances can certainly run up your bill, but the amount of energy that devices like your router use to bring the actual internet to you is relatively small compared to applications like heating your home, cooking, or doing laundry.

All-Weather Reliability

The great thing about fiber internet is that the other benefits of fiber optic cable could be much more important than a small savings on your power bill. For starters, it’s significantly more reliable in winter weather than cable or DSL internet.

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Cold weather can affect internet service in several different ways. Heavy snow and ice can weigh down or damage overhead cables, leading to outages and slowdowns.  Similarly, extreme temperature fluctuations can cause these cables to expand and contract, affecting connection quality and increasing electrical interference, which disrupts data transmission.

Fiber internet is significantly less vulnerable to the traditional reliability issues of cable. Fiber cables are almost always buried deep underground, so they’re much less exposed to snow and ice, unlike phone and coaxial cables that are often strung on highly-exposed power lines. They also don’t expand and contract as much as copper cables do, so they’re more reliable in heavy winter weather.

Other Benefits of Fiber Internet

Fiber’s other major perks include:

• Superior Speeds: Fiber is about as fast as the fastest cable networks, but its upload speeds are typically much faster than cable internet. Fast upload speeds are critical for a lot of applications like gaming and video conferencing, which means that speed is a lot of people’s main reason to switch to fiber. (If you’re not sure about your current upload speeds, a quick internet speed test can help you get the picture.)
• Low Latency: Fiber networks are also notable for their low latency, so your network will send and receive requests with almost no lagging. Again, this is critical for many people’s most-used applications, especially gaming, which really suffers on a high-latency connection.
• Increased Bandwidth: Fiber optic cables have a much higher bandwidth capacity than traditional copper cables, meaning they can transmit much more data simultaneously.

All of the advantages we’ve discussed can be incredibly important during winter weather. First, a fiber connection is far more likely to remain operational during a winter storm. In addition, when the whole family is stuck at home, a robust fiber connection will help ensure that there’s enough high-speed data bandwidth for streaming, online classes, and whatever else needs to get done.

More Winter Energy Saving Tips

If you’re still looking for a few ways to lower your energy bills this winter, consider these options:

• Programmable Thermostat: Invest in a programmable thermostat to help you save on heating costs by automatically adjusting the temperature when you’re asleep or away. (A reliable fiber connection helps here by ensuring your smart thermostat is able to transmit data.)
• Layer Up: Throw on a sweater, sweatshirt, or long-sleeve tee indoors to stay comfortable at a slightly lower thermostat setting.
• Seal Up Leaks: Check for drafts in the spaces around windows and doors. Use weatherstripping or caulk to seal any gaps and prevent heat loss.

Switching to fiber can be one important element of a holistic plan to get your home ready for winter energy savings. When combined with other energy-conscious habits and smart home upgrades, fiber internet can contribute to a more sustainable and cost-effective lifestyle, keeping you connected and comfortable throughout the colder months.