Top 10 Tips to Save Energy at Home
September 9th, 20081. Close window blinds and drapes in the summer
Simply closing your drapes and blinds in the summer will help prevent the sun from heating up your home on those hot summer days. If you don’t have window blinds, consider installing them yourself or at least looking into what kinds are available at your local hardware store or chain wholesaler.
2. Use fans whenever possible instead of the A/C
Did you know that Heating and Cooling costs are the greatest chunk of your energy bill? Doing anything to avoid turning on or turning down the A/C in summer will help curb next month’s electric bill. Consider investing in a box fan or two and, when you do turn on the A/C, make sure your air filters are clean so your house is being efficiently cooled.
3. Turn off unnecessary lighting during the day
Remember your parents always nagging you to turn off the lights? You could have guessed this one: turning off the lights when you’re not in the room saves money. Furthermore, turning off some of the lights during the day and letting the sun shine in for some natural lighting can really add up in savings on your electric bill.
4. Unplug electronics when not in use
If you’re like me, you probably have kept your computer on or left it on standby for long periods of time. Even when in hibernate-mode your computer (and all the peripherals like your monitor) uses about 70 Watts. Considering that a normal computer uses about 120-130 Watts while running, putting the old machine in “sleep” mode really only saves about 50%. The interesting point here is that even when your computer is compleely shut down, it still draws about 50 Watts of power. Solution? Turn off your power strip before going to bed. Cutting of the juice to a computer that is shutdown is safe and is a good energy-saving habit.
5. Run the clothes washer and dishwashers in the evening
It is common practice for your local utility to have different rates at different times of the day. What this means is that using the same amount of power at a peak time like 3-4pm would cost more than using the same amount at 8-9pm. While this doesn’t add up to much for your everyday electronics, it can add up for your washer, dryer, and dishwasher. Check with your local utility’s website to see if they have daily rate schedules and then limit your heavy electrical use after the rates dip down at night.
6. Replace your incandescent light bulbs with CFLs
Did you know that 60-70% of the electricity used to power an incandescent bulb (i.e. a typical light bulb) is simply wasted as heat? Efficient lighting technology has come full-circle since the heyday of Thomas Edison. Now we can use more energy efficient fluorescent lamps like CFLs (stands for Compact Fluorescent Lamp) that use a fraction of the power that a typical incandescent bulb does. Most grocery stores sell CFLs and they can be picked up at any major hardware store or wholesaler. While they are a little more expensive, they not only save you energy but also last longer than traditional bulbs.
7. Lower your water heating temperature to 120F
A conventional hot water tank keeps gallons of hot water ready for use at a moment’s notice. Reducing the maximum temperature level that your tank is set at down to the recommended 120F is an easy way to save water heating costs and still have water hot enough to properly clean dishes and wash clothes.
8. Install a programmable thermostat
As mentioned in #5, your local utility charges you a variable rate throughout the day to match the demand of everyone using their appliances at once. What this means is that the people who know that they’re getting charged more during peak hours of the day will wait until later to allow energy-intensive tasks. One of the greatest users of electricity in a typical home is the Air Conditioning. Obviously, keeping the temperature up in the summer is an easy, albeit uncomfortable, way to save energy but there exists a simpler way to automate your A/C with the variable rates charged by your utility. A programmable thermostat is a device much like your typical manual wall-mounted thermostat except that instead of keeping the temperature of your home at one constant level, it can be programmed to cool your home based on a rate schedule. This means instead of one temperature level being kept up no matter what the cost, your new smart thermostat will cool more when its cheaper and turn off during those expensive high-demand periods of the day. These programmable units are inexpensive ($30-$60) and are easy to install.
9. Seal any cracks in your door frames and windows
The best energy-saving mindset that you can get yourself into is to consider your house as a whole system of energy usage. While replacing a few light bulbs with CFLs may not make a big dent in your bill, preventing heat from escaping out of your home through seemingly closed windows and doors is a bigger issue. The best, and safest way, to see if your valuable hot air is escaping through your doors and windows is to light an incense stick or two and hold them near the threshold areas of your doors and windows. If the smoke seeps out easily, then you’ll know its time to fill a few crannies. The best way to seal doors and windows with small gaps is to add weatherstripping material where the doors and windows meet their frames. Weatherstripping is cheap ($10-$15) and is easy to cut and apply to any doorway. You’ll be sure to notice a drop in your heating costs come next winter.
10. Replace old single pane windows
If weatherstripping your windows is not enough or you want to take it a step further you can replace your older single pane windows with new double pane, low-e Argon windows that reduce heat lost to the elements.
