A green life doesn’t have to mean spending thousands of dollars on solar or changing our lifestyles drastically. We can actually live more green and save money at the same time through home energy conservation. How do we do that? It’s easy, reduce the amount of energy needed to heat your home in the winter, cool it in the summer, and power the lights all year. By using less energy you are reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses released into our atmosphere while lowering your utility bill. Green living that actually puts money back in your pocket! Let’s get started…
Tip #1 – Turn the light switches off when you aren’t in the room. We think this is probably the easiest way to live green. You will lower electricity bill and prolong the life of your light bulbs at the same time. Teach your kids to always flip the switch when they leave the room. Your pocket book will love you and so will mother earth!
Tip #2 – Switch out all of your light bulbs to CFL (compact florescent light) bulbs. CFL’s use 75% less electricity than standard filament bulbs. Yes, they do cost more but, CFL’s last up to ten times longer than their incandescent counterparts. If you can’t replace all of your bulbs, start with one room at a time. A house using CFL bulbs can reduce its electricity consumption up to 25%. That’s a lot of green!
Tip #3 – While we are on the subject of lighting, let’s talk about motion and light sensing activated devices. There are three overall automatic lighting options for you to choose from. First, light sensor activated lighting turns the bulb off when it’s light and on when it’s dark. Motion sensor lights will turn on the light when movement is detected near the fixture. And, finally the best of both worlds, a light that turns on when both darkness and motion are present. You can buy these sensors to fit in your existing light fixtures or a light fixture with the sensor built-in. We like the First Alert model #PIR 720R for indoor use and the American De Rosa #D2430 for exterior lights.
Tip #4 – Washing the dishes. The automatic dishwasher uses a lot of energy to clean your plates, cups, and forks. Run the dishwasher only when it’s full. You’ll also be saving water if you run the dishwasher less. But, that couldn’t possibly save much water, right? Try this, don’t rinse the dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher and run it only when full – you could save over 7000 gallons of water each year!
Tip #5 – Speaking of hot water, our home water heaters require a large amount of electricity or natural gas to keep the water at our desired temperature. The standard hot water heater turns on and off constantly in order to do its duty, wasting energy along the way. Wrapping your water heater with an insulating blanket can reduce its energy consumption by 20%. These blankets slow the heat loss of the water, thus causing your water heater to run less frequently. Check with your local hardware store or home center. These blankets are very affordable and easy to install.
Tip #6 - Install a programmable thermostat…and use it. A programmable thermostat can reduce your utility bill up to 15% or more. Every 1 degree change over an eight hour period can equal a 1% savings. So, set the thermostat to 10 degrees cooler when you’re not at home during the winter, a 10% savings! Or, set it 5 degrees warmer in the summer when you aren’t around, a 5% savings! You can program most thermostats to operate around your work schedule, the weekends, evenings, and vacations. Most programmable thermostats will pay for themselves in energy savings within just a few months. Chances are you may already have one of these thermostats, but have you programmed it or do you just hit the up and down arrows? Gotcha! Spend a little time, program the unit, and you’ll enjoy lower energy bills all year long.
Tip #7 – Insulation for your home. Most homes are sorely under insulated, especially in the attic. You remember high school science – heated air rises and cooler air lowers. Well, the heated air in the winter goes up and out mostly through our attics. Check your attic insulation thickness to estimate its R-value (thermal resistance). New homes are required to include a minimum R-30 insulation in the attic. There are several types of insulation material, but a good general rule is that you want at least 12” of the stuff up there. Anything less and you could be losing 50% more heat than is necessary. Hire a contractor to add insulation or do it yourself. While this is certainly a more costly way to conserve energy, the extra insulation will most likely pay for itself in just a few seasons. Another way to see if you have enough insulation in the attic is to look at your roof after a good snowfall. Does the snow melt quickly (one day or less)? Compare it to your neighbor’s roof, do they have snow on their roof and you don’t? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you’re losing a lot of heat through the attic. Time to insulate!
Tip #8 – Speaking of heat loss, check your windows and doors for air gaps. These gaps allow heat to escape (and water to enter). A little over 20% of all heat loss goes out through the doors and windows of your home. Check to make sure the weather stripping is in good shape and that it runs all the way to the corners. A simple way to test for these gaps is to hold incense or a lit candle next to the area of concern. Pick a windy day and you may be surprised at the results. While you are at it, check other areas like around outlets or other exterior wall penetrations. It’s affordable and easy to install new weather stripping. And, the new spray foams do wonders around electric boxes and other wall gaps.
Tip #9 – Clothes drying 101. Clean out the lint screen every time you load the dryer. Also, make sure you don’t overload the dryer. Sounds a bit boring, but the savings is anything but – try 5% off your utility bill!
Tip #10 – Here’s one that will save you time as well. Cook with micro waves. Yep, the microwave is 3 to 5 times more energy efficient than a standard oven. So, if you spend $100.00 cooking meals in the oven, the same meals in a microwave could cost you only $20.00. Who said nuking was a bad thing?
A special thanks to Mathew Standish, President, http://www.tuwa.com/ for sharing this article.
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