1.
Add a layer! Or take it all off! Common sense...if you
are cold, put on another layer of clothes first. Or, snuggle under some warm
blankets with someone you love! Don't just rush to turn up the heat! And in the
summer wear a little less....
2. Unplug
anything you are not using. Even tvs, dvd players, computers left in standby
mode are silently using electricity! If you are at home all the time, maybe
staying at home with kids, have certain times during the day that the tv stays
off. Little cutbacks like this
3.
Get
an Energy-use Consultation: In
many communities, utilities companies provide this service for free, or for a
nominal fee. Many local volunteer organizations also perform energy audits.
They can test your home to identify your areas of greatest heating/cooling
loss, analyze your past utilities bills, and, in some cases, estimate how long
it would take you to recoup the cost of upgrades to your home or apartment. If
you’d rather perform your own audit, the Department of Energy has an online
audit tool that takes you through the steps.
4.
Install
Extra Insulation: Make sure
your house is properly insulated. Any doors or windows letting air in or out is
driving up your electric bill! In the winter consider taping plastic over
windows that are single glazed and letting too much heat out.
5. Seal Off Gaps: Weather stripping, heat-safe
tape, and caulk are all relatively inexpensive and easy to find. Use them to
seal off leaks to the outside of your home. Two things to pay attention to in
your quest to mind your gaps: 1) The Department of Energy estimates that only
10% of air loss in a typical house comes from windows, whereas 15% comes from
ducts and 13% comes from plumbing leading outside or to other un-insulated
areas. 2) Ducts especially are tricky creatures, and sealing or insulating them
improperly can be hazardous. Make sure that you know what you’re doing, or talk
to someone who does, before you tamper with them.
6.
Install
Door Sweeps: If
you have several heating zones in your house, installing small, insulating door
sweeps on the bottom of your doors can help keep those zones from leaking into
one another. Even if you don’t have zones, installing door sweeps on your
outside doors, and the doors closest to the outside, can cut down on air leakage.
Sweeps are easy to install, and of low cost.
7.
Get
a Programmable Thermostat and Use it: Set your thermostat between 60 and 65 during the winter
and keep it there! You can set it lower when you go out. Why heat an empty
house? In the summer try setting it higher, around 80 or 85. And invest in
ceiling fans...they help cool in summer and pull warm air down to the ground in
winter.
8.
Consider
a Heated Mattress Pad: If
you live in an area with cold winters, you can probably turn your thermostat
down even more during the night by using one of these. The electricity that it
takes to heat your bed is miniscule compared to the cost of heating your entire
house a few extra degrees at night.
9.
Use
Compact-Fluorescent Bulbs: Yes,
the light they give off is different from that of normal incandescent bulbs.
But they typically use 75% less energy, and last ten times as long.
10.
Use
Power Strips: Even
in sleep mode, your computer, DVD player, and other electronic devices use some
energy. By plugging them into power strips, and then turning off the power at
the strip, you use less electricity.
11.
Maintain/Clean
Your Appliances: If
your heating vents (or the vents on the underside of your baseboard heater) are
caked in dust, they probably aren’t running at maximum efficiency. Likewise,
replace or clean the filter on your furnace and drain the sediment from your
water heater as often as their user manuals say you should. Appliances last
longer when they’re well-maintained, and it will knock some money off your
utilities as well.
12.
Make
Your Water Heater More Efficient: If it’s an old heater, chances are it’s not as
well-insulated as it could be. (Though be sure to first check the owner’s
manual to see if it’s safe to add an insulating cover to your water heater.).
Likewise, make sure the pipes leading from your heater to the wall are
insulated. If they’re not, simple pipe insulation, again available at most
hardware stores, should do the trick.
13.
Turn
Down your Water Heater: If
your water heater is set at 140 degrees or above, chances are that you can get
away with only setting it at 120. The only thing you might need 140-degree
water for is your dishwasher. Experiment a bit and see if you can get clean
dishes at lower temperatures.
14.
Install
Faucet Aerators: They
use less water, even if you’re turning on the taps for the same amount of time.
You should be able to get faucet aerators for less than two dollars apiece.
Chances are you already have some form of aerator in your faucet (they’re those
little mesh screen pieces that screw onto the nozzle). If you already have
them, you can unscrew them and check the side for their gpm (galleons
per minute) rating. If it’s over 2.75 gallons, it’s probably worth it to get
one with a better, lower rating.
15.
Install
a Low-flow Shower Head: If you take long showers, this is definitely an investment
to think about. Most of them operate by aerating water. Note that low-flow
shower heads should not reduce your water-pressure by all that much. Take a
look at your local hardware store’s return policy, too. It might be worth it to
experiment with several different types if you can return them after one or two
uses.
16.
Only
Run Your Dishwasher When Full: Unless you have a newer dishwasher with a half-wash option,
you use the same amount of water no matter how many dishes you put in. Also
note that since it’s hot water, you’re paying not only for H2O, but also for
the energy used to heat it.
17.
Air-dry
Dishes: Instead
of using the drying cycle on your dishwasher, just set it to clean only, and
open the door when the dishwasher is done. The wire racks in the dishwasher can
conveniently double as drying racks, and you’ll save the energy it would have
taken to dry all your dishes.
18.
Wash
Whites on Warm, Not hot: Unless
you or a member of your household is an athlete, or particularly stinky, your
whites will probably turn out just as clean on the warm setting as they did on
the hot setting, and you save your water heater from having to heat up several
galleons of water to max temperature.
19.
Simulate
a Low Flush Toilet: If
you don’t have a new, water-saver toilet, you can simulate one by putting a
clean brick, or a sealed plastic bottle filled with pebbles, or a weighted
mason jar, into your toilet tank. This displaces water so that less is used
each time you flush.
20.
Be
Kind to Your Freezer/Refrigerator: Let hot food sit out an hour or so before you put it
in the fridge, so that you don’t waste energy having your fridge work extra
hard to cool it down. If you have empty space in your freezer, and live in a
cool place, freeze plastic containers full of water by putting them outside,
and then put them into your empty freezer space, giving the freezer a helping
hand.
21.
Buy
Wisely: When
Buying New Appliances, pay attention to their energy ratings: An Energy Star
logo is put on many appliances that meet federal standards for energy
efficiency. Large appliances such as refrigerators, boilers, water heaters,
dish washers etc. have yellow Energy Guide tags on them that tell you how
energy
