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Home Energy Saving Tips
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SAVE ENERGY AND MONEY TODAY
YOUR HOME’S ENERGY USE
INSULATION AND SEALING AIR LEAKS
HEATING AND COOLING
1. Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer. 2. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed. 3. Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they’re not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes. 4. Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional. 5. Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators. 6. Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing; when replacing exhaust fans, consider installing high efficiency, low-noise models. 7. During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows. 8. During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.
1. Check your ducts for air leaks. First, look for sections that should be joined but have separated and then look for obvious holes. 2. If you use tape to seal your ducts, avoid cloth-backed, rubber adhesive duct tape, which tends to fail quickly. Researchers recommend other products to seal ducts; mastic, butyl tape, foil tape, or other heat-approved tapes. Look for tape with the Underwriters Laboratories logo. 3. Remember that insulating ducts in the basement will make the basement colder. If both the ducts and the basement walls are uninsulated, consider insulating both.*
* Note: Water pipes and drains in unconditioned spaces could freeze and burst in the space if the heat ducts are fully insulated, because there would be no heat source to prevent the space from freezing in cold weather. However, using an electric heating tape wrap on the pipes can prevent this.
1. Do not set back the heat pump’s thermostat manually if it causes the electric resistance heating to come on. This type of heating, which is often used as a backup to the heat pump, is more expensive. 2. Clean or change filters once a month or as needed, and maintain the system according to manufacturer’s instructions.
1. If you never use your fireplace plug and seal the chimney flue. 2. Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a window wide open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney. 3. When you use the fireplace, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or open the nearest window slightly – approximately 1 inch – and close doors leading into the room. Lower the thermostat setting to between 50 degrees and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. Install tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warmed air back into the room. 5. Check the seal on the flue damper and make it as snug as possible. 6. Add caulking around the fireplace hearth. 7. Use grates made of C-shaped metal tubes to draw cool air into the fireplace and circulate warm air back into the room.
1. Whole-house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air through the attic. They are effective when operated at night and when the outside air is cooler than the inside. 2. Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be. 3. Don’t set your thermostat as a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and therefore, unnecessary expense. 4. Consider using an interior fan in conjunction with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air more effectively through your home without greatly increasing your power use. 5. Don’t place lamps or TV sets near your air conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary. 6. Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units but not to block the airflow. Place your room air conditioner on the north side of the house. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun. 7. Keep in mind that insulation and sealing air leaks will help your energy performance in the summertime by keeping the cool air inside.
1. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours. You can do this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic setback or programmable thermostat. Using a programmable thermostat, you can adjust the times you turn on the heating or air conditioning according to a pre-set schedule. As a result, the equipment doesn’t operate as much when you are asleep or when the house, or part of it, is not occupied. Programmable thermostats can store and repeat multiple daily settings (six or more temperature settings a day) that you can manually override without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program. When shopping for a programmable thermostat, be sure to look for the ENERGY STAR.
WATER HEATING
WINDOWS
1. You can use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Remember, the plastic must be sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration. 2. Install tight-fitting, insulating window shades on windows that feel drafty after weatherizing. 3. Close your curtains and shades at night; open them during the day. 4. Keep windows on the south side of your house clean to let in the winter sun. 5. Install exterior or interior storm windows; storm windows can reduce heat loss through the windows by 25% to 50%. Storm windows should have weather-stripping at all movable joints; be made of strong, durable materials; and have interlocking or overlapping joints. Low-e storm windows save even more energy.
1. Install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. 2. Close curtains on south and west facing windows during the day. 3. Install awnings on south and west facing windows. 4. Apply sun-control or other reflective films on south facing windows to reduce solar gain.
LIGHTING
1. Compact fluorescent bulbs are four times more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and provide the same light levels.
1. Use outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a motion sensor so they will turn on only at night or when someone is present. A combined photocell and motion sensor will increase your energy savings even more. 2. Turn off decorative outdoor natural gas lamps; just eight such lamps burning year-round use as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home during an entire winter. 3. Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs because of their long life. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with cold weather ballast since standard CFLs may not work well below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. Also consider high-intensity discharge (also called HID) or low-pressure sodium lights.
APPLIANCES
1. Look for a refrigerator with automatic moisture control. Models with this feature have been engineered to prevent moisture accumulation on the cabinet exterior without the addition of a heater. This is not the same thing as an “anti-sweat heater will consume 5% to 10% more energy than models without this feature. 2. Don’t keep your refrigerator or freezer too cold. Recommended temperatures are 37 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit for the fresh food compartment of the refrigerator and 5 degrees Fahrenheit for the freezer section. If you have a separate freezer for long-term storage, it should be kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. 3. To check refrigerator temperature place an appliance thermometer in a glass of water in the center of the refrigerator. Read it after 24 hours. To check the freezer temperature, place a thermometer between frozen packages. Read it after 24 hours. 4. Regularly defrost manual-defrost refrigerators and freezers; frost buildup decreases the energy efficiency of the unit. Don’t allow frost to build up more than one quarter of an inch. 5. Make sure your refrigerator door seals are airtight. Test them by closing the door over a piece of paper or a dollar bill so it is half in and half out of the refrigerator. If you can pull the paper or bill out easily, the latch may need adjustment, the seal may need replacing, or you might consider buying a new unit. 6. Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
1. Be sure to place the faucet lever on the kitchen sink in the cold position when using small amounts of water; placing the lever in the hot position uses energy to heat the water even though it may never reach the faucet. 2. If you need to purchase a natural gas oven or range, look for one with an automatic, electric ignition system. An electric ignition saves natural gas because a pilot light is not burning continuously. 3. In natural gas appliances, look for blue flames; yellow flames indicate the gas is burning inefficiently and an adjustment may be needed. Consult the manufacturer or your local utility. 4. Keep range-top burners and reflectors clean; they will reflect the heat better, and you will save energy. 5. Use a covered kettle or pan to boil water; it’s faster and it uses less energy. 6. Match the size of the pan to the heating element. 7. Use small electric pans or toaster ovens for small meals rather than your large stove or oven. A toaster oven uses a third to half as much energy as a full-sized oven. 8. Use pressure cookers and microwave ovens whenever it is convenient to do so. They will save energy by significantly reducing cooking time.
1. Wash your clothes in cold water using cold water detergents whenever possible. 2. Wash and dry full loads. If you are washing a small load, use the appropriate water level setting. 3. Dry towels and heavier cottons in a separate load from the lighter weight clothes. 4. Don’t over dry your clothes. If your machine has a moisture sensor, use it. 5. Clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load to improve air circulation. 6. Use the cool down cycle to allow the clothes to finish drying with residual heat in the dryer. 7. Periodically inspect your dryer vent to ensure it is not blocked. This will save energy and may prevent a fire. Manufacturers recommend using rigid venting material, not plastic vents that may collapse and cause blockages. 8. Consider air drying clothes on clothes lines or drying racks. Air drying is recommended by clothing manufacturers for some fabrics. 9. Double spin clothes in washer to cut down on dryer time. 10. Cold water makes clothes last longer
HOME OFFICE AND HOME ELECTRONICS
1. Selecting energy-efficient office equipment – personal computers (PCs), monitors, copiers, printers, and fax machines – and turning off machines when they are not in use can result in enormous energy savings. 2. An ENERGY STAR computer uses 70% less electricity than computers without this designation. If left inactive, ENERGY STAR computers enter a low power mode and use 15 watts or less. Spending a large portion of time in low power mode not only saves energy, but helps equipment run cooler and last longer. 3. To maximize savings with a laptop, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off (or will turn off automatically); the transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into the adapter. 4. Common misconceptions sometimes account for the failure to turn off equipment. Many people believe that equipment lasts longer if it is never turned off. This incorrect perception carries over from the days of older mainframe computers. 5. ENERGY STAR computers and monitors save energy only when the power management features are activated, so make sure power management is activated on your computer. 6. There is a common misconception that screen savers reduce energy use by monitors; they do not. Automatic switching to sleep mode or manually turning monitors off is always the better energy saving strategy.
1. Look for energy saving ENERGY STAR home electronics. 2. Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These “phantom” loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip to cut all power to the appliance. 3. Unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use. 4. Studies have shown that using rechargeable batteries for products like cordless phones and PDAs is more cost effective than throwaways, check with your trash removal company about safe disposal options.
DRIVING AND CAR MAINTENANCE
1. Use the grade of motor oil recommended by your car’s manufacturer. Using different motor oil can lower your gasoline mileage by 1% to 2%. 2. Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%. 3. Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems due to worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, low transmission fluid, or transmission problems. 4. Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and protect your engine. 5. Combine errands into one trip. Several short trips, each one taken from cold to start, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
· Renewable Energy Tips 1. A new home provides the best opportunity for designing and orienting the home to take advantage of the sun’s rays. A well oriented home admits low angle winter sun to reduce heating bills and rejects overhead summer sun to reduce cooling bills. 2. Many U.S. consumers buy electricity made from renewable energy sources like the sun, wind, water, plants, and Earth’s internal heat. This power is sometimes called “green power.” Buying green power from the utility is one of the easiest ways to use renewable energy without having to invest in equipment or take on extra maintenance. 3. Another use of solar power is for heating water. If you have a swimming pool or hot tub, you can use solar power to cut pool heating systems costs. Most solar pool heating systems are cost competitive with conventional systems. And solar pool systems have very low operating costs. It’s actually the most cost effective use of solar energy.
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