Lighting Tips
Increasing your lighting efficiency is one of the fastest ways to decrease your energy bills. If you replace 25% of your lights with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), you can save about 50% on your lighting bill.
- Turn off the lights in rooms you’re not using.
- Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it.
- Use ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs in table and floor lamps. They use 75% less energy, and last up to 10 times longer.
- When shopping for new fixtures, consider ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures. These fixtures are dedicated; with built-in ballasts that use pin-based ENERGY STAR qualified replacement bulbs.
- Replace your halogen torchiere floor lamp with an ENERGY STAR qualified torchiere. They use 75% less energy, and burn 400 - 600 degrees cooler.
- Use outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a timer so they will turn off during the day.
Insulation Tips
When insulating, consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting the insulation R-value for your home.
- Use higher density insulation, such as rigid foam boards, in cathedral ceilings and on exterior walls.
- Ventilation plays a large role in providing moisture control and reducing summer cooling bills. Attic vents can be installed along the entire ceiling cavity to help ensure proper airflow from the soffit to the attic to make a home more comfortable and energy efficient.
- Recessed light fixtures can be a major source of heat loss, but you need to be careful how close you place insulation next to a fixture unless it is marked "I.C." – designed for direct insulation contact. Check your local building codes for recommendations.
- Follow the product instructions on installation and wear the proper protective gear when installing insulation.
Q: Should I insulate my home?
A: Yes, if you:
- Have an older home and haven’t added insulation: in a recent survey, only 20% of homes built before 1980 were well insulated.
- Are uncomfortably cold in the winter or hot in the summer – adding insulation creates a more uniform temperature and increases comfort.
- Build a new house or addition, or install new siding or roofing.
- Pay excessive energy bills.
- Are bothered by noise from the outdoors (insulation helps to muffle sound).
- Are concerned about the effect of energy use on the environment.
Weatherization Tips
You can save 10% or more on your energy bill by reducing the air leaks in your home. How does the air escape? Air infiltrates in and out of your home through every hold, nook, and cranny. About one-third of this air infiltrates through openings in your ceilings, walls, and floors.
- First, have your home tested for air tightness.
- Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows that leak air.
- Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring penetrates through exterior walls, floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets.
- Install rubber gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on exterior walls.
- Look for dirty spots in your insulation. This often indicates holes where air leaks into and out of your house. You can seal these holes by stapling sheets of plastic over the holes and caulking the edges of the plastic.
- Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace them with double-pane windows. A less costly alternative during winter months is to tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames.
- When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed.
- For new construction, reduce exterior wall leaks by either installing house wrap, taping the joints of exterior sheathing, or comprehensively caulking and sealing the exterior walls.
Heating & Cooling Tips
Typically 44% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling. No matter what kind of system you have in your house, you can save money and increase comfort.
To reduce your heating and cooling costs:
- Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.
- Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed.
- Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.
- 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. During the cooling season, keep the window covering closed during the day to prevent solar gain.
- Select energy-efficient equipment when you buy new heating and cooling equipment. Look for the ENERGY STAR label. ENERGY STAR is a program developed by the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help consumers identify energy-efficient products and services.
- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.
- Use a programmable thermostat. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning back 10% - 15% for 8 hours.
Fireplace Tips
If you use your conventional fireplace while your central heating system in on, these tips can help reduce energy losses.
- If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue.
- Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. Keeping it open allows warm air to escape through the chimney.
- When you use the fireplace, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided).
- Install tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warmed air back into the room.
- Check the seal on the flue damper and make it as snug as possible.
- Add caulking around the fireplace hearth.
- Use grates made of c-shaped metal tubes to draw cool room air into the fireplace and circulate warm air back into the room.
Water Heating Tips
Water heating is the third largest energy expense in your home. It typically accounts for about 14% of your utility bill.
- Repair leaky faucets promptly; a leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period.
- Insulate your electric water heater tank and pipes, but be careful not to cover the thermostat.
- Install nonaerating, low-flow faucets and showerheads.
- Buy a new energy-efficient water heater. It may cost more initially, but the energy savings will continue during the lifetime of the appliance. It’s best to start shopping if yours is more than 7 years old.
- Lower the thermostat on your water heater; a setting of 115 degrees F provides comfortable hot water.
- Drain a quart of water from your water tank every 3 months to remove sediment that impedes heat transfer and lower the efficiency of your heater.
- If you heat with electricity, consider installing a solar hot water heater.
Cold Climate Window Tips
Windows can be one of your home’s most attractive features. Unfortunately, they can also account for 10% to 15% of your heating bill.
- Install exterior or interior storm windows; storm windows reduce your heat loss by 25% to 50%. Low-e storm windows save even more energy.
- Repair and weatherize your current storm windows if necessary.
- Install tight-fitting, insulating window shades on windows that fell drafty after weatherizing.
- Close your curtains and shades at night; open them during the day.
- Keep your windows on the south side of your house clean to maximize solar gain.
- When shopping for new windows, look for the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) label; it means the window’s performance is certified. Also be sure to look for the ENERGY STAR label. ENERGY STAR is a program developed by the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help consumers identify energy-efficient products and services.
Appliances
Appliances account for about 20% of your household’s energy consumption. When you’re shopping for appliances, think of two price tags. The first one is the purchase price. The second is the cost of operating the appliance during its lifetime, which could be the next 20 years. Look for the ENERGY STAR label; these appliances are the most energy-efficient products you can buy.
Dishwashers
- Be sure your dishwasher is full, but not overloaded.
- Don’t use the "rinse hold" cycle for just a few soiled dishes.
It uses 3 to 7 gallons of hot water each time you use it.
- Let your dishes air dry.
- Check your manual. Your dishwasher may have an internal heating element that allows you to set the water heater in your home to a lower temperature.
Refrigerators/Freezers:
- Don’t keep your refrigerator or freezer too cold. Recommended temperatures are 37 – 40 degrees F for fresh food areas, and 5 degrees for the freezer section of your refrigerator. Freezers should be kept at 0 degrees F.
- Look for a refrigerator with automatic moisture control. This prevents moisture accumulation on the cabinet exterior.
- Regularly defrost manual-defrost refrigerators and freezers; frost build-up decreases the energy efficiency of the unit.
- Make sure your refrigerators door seals are airtight.
- Move your refrigerator out from the wall and vacuum its condenser coils once a year unless your have a no-clean condenser model.
Laundry:
- Wash your clothes in cold water whenever possible.
- Wash and dry full loads.
- Use the appropriate water-level setting for smaller loads.
- Clean the filter in the dryer after every load to improve air circulation.
- Use the cool-down cycle to allow the clothes to finish drying with the residual heat in the dryer.
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