Tips for saving energy at home

Lighting

1. Get in the habit of turning off your lights as soon as you leave a room.
2. Replace your five most used light bulbs with ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent bulbs to save $60 each year in energy costs. These light bulbs use two-thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
3. Consider safer, more efficient ENERGY STAR torchiere lamps rather than halogen torchieres, which can cause fires. Halogen bulbs are also expensive to use.
4. Use dimmers, timers, and motion detectors on indoor and outdoor lighting.

Appliances/Electronics

1. Turn off computers, TVs, radios, DVD players, and all other appliances and electronics when not in use.
2. Activate "sleep" features on computers and office equipment that power down when not in use for a while. Turn off equipment during longer periods, such as overnight, of non-use to cut energy costs and improve longevity.
3. Unplug electronic devices and chargers when they aren't in use-most new electronics use electricity even when switched "off." Turn computers and printers off at the power strip.
4. Appliances and electronics really add up on your energy bill. When it is time to replace, remember these items have two price tags: purchase price and lifetime energy cost. When shopping for new appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher, etc.) and electronics (TV, computer, etc.), demand the ENERGY STAR label. ENERGY STAR is the government’s rating program that shows you which items are more efficient than typical models. ENERGY STAR items will save you money over the product’s useful life.
5. When shopping for energy-efficient appliances, don't be misled by labels such as "Energy Miser," "Energy Saver" and "Fuel Saver." The best way to determine energy efficiency of appliances is to compare information provided by EnergyGuide labels.
6. When purchasing appliances, look for the ENERGY STAR label, which means that the product is highly energy efficient.
7. Before purchasing a plasma or LCD television set, research how much energy they use and make sure to buy one that is the most energy efficient.

Refrigerator/Freezer

1. Minimize door openings as much as possible. Every time the refrigerator door is opened, cooled air escapes. The unit must then work harder to replace the air. Try to keep the door open no longer than necessary. Be sure to close the door completely.
2. Every spring, vacuum underneath your refrigerator. Be sure to unplug the appliance first.
3. Allow hot foods to cool before placing them in the refrigerator. Hot food decreases the temperature in the refrigerator temporarily, forcing the refrigerator to work harder to keep the air cool.
4. Keep your refrigerator away from heat sources, such as an oven, a dishwasher and direct sunlight from a window. A 10°F increase in surrounding temperature can result in 20% higher energy consumption.
5. Select a refrigerator that is the right size for the household's needs. Larger models use more energy, as do refrigerators that are under-utilized or overly full.
6. Choose top-freezer, ENERGY STAR models instead of side-by-side refrigerators, which use approximately 10 to 25% more energy.
7. If your refrigerator is over 10 years old, consider purchasing a new model. Newer refrigerators are more energy efficient.

Cooking

1. When cooking, keep the lids on pots. Better yet, use a microwave oven instead.
2. Cook with a full oven. Prepare dishes together when possible. If you have three dishes to be cooked in the oven at slightly different temperatures (325°F, 350°F and 375°F, for example), pick the average temperature (350°F in this case) to cook all three.
3. Don't peek. Every time you open the oven door to look at the food, the oven temperature is lowered by 25°F to 75°F. Use a timer if the oven door does not have a window.
4. Use leftover heat as a food warmer. Turn off oven immediately when finished cooking. Ovens retain heat for up to 30 minutes after they have been turned off.
5. Use pots and pans that fit the burners. Pans that fit a burner absorb more of the energy, reducing the amount of heat that is lost.

Dishwashing

1. Run your dishwasher after 7 p.m. Wash only full loads and use the shortest possible cycle.
2. Avoid using the "rinse hold" setting on your dishwasher. "Rinse hold" uses three to seven gallons of hot water for each use, and heating water takes extra energy. Never use "rinse hold" for just a few dirty dishes.
3. Scrape, don't rinse dishes before loading the dishwasher. Pre-rinsing can use up to 20 gallons of water.

Heating/Cooling

1. Take advantage of the South County's mild climate by using ceiling fans and opening windows instead of using an air conditioner.
2. Check the furnace or air conditioner (AC) filter each month, and clean or replace it as needed. Dirty filters block air flow through your heating and cooling systems, increasing your energy bill and shortening the equipment’s life.
3. During hot months, keep window coverings closed on the south, east, and west windows. In winter, let the sun in.
4. Dress appropriately for the weather, and set your thermostat to the lowest possible comfortable setting. On winter nights, put an extra blanket on the bed and turn down your thermostat more.
5. In summer, use fans whenever possible instead of AC, and ventilate at night this way when practical. Using fans to supplement AC allows you to raise the thermostat temperature, using less energy. Fans cost less to use than AC.
6. Only heat or cool the rooms you need—close vents and doors of unused rooms.
7. Seal and weatherstrip your windows and doors to ensure that you're not wasting energy on heat or air conditioning that escapes through leaks to the outdoors.
8. The easiest and most cost-effective way to insulate your home is to add insulation in the attic. If you have less than 6 or 7 inches, you can probably benefit by adding more. Most U.S. homes should have between R-38 and R-49 attic insulation. In order to achieve this, many homeowners should add between R-19 to R-30 insulation (about 6 to 10 inches). Other effective places to add insulation include unfinished basement walls and crawlspaces. Consider the ENERGY STAR® Home Sealing Program—the government’s information for sealing your home: www.energystar.gov/homesealing
9. Efficient windows can lower your heating and cooling bills up to 30 percent. Turn your heating or cooling down every night and whenever you leave home. Better yet—install an ENERGY STAR programmable thermostat and save about $100 each year; it adjusts the temperature automatically for you.
10. Avoid purchasing or using electric space heaters in your home. They use a lot of energy and can cause fires.
11. Use a programmable thermostat to control your furnace or air conditioning system (if you must use air conditioning). It is best not to set thermostat below 65 degrees for cooling or 78 degrees for heating.

Water Heating

1. Lower the temperature on your water heater. It should be set at “warm,” so that a thermometer held under running water reads no more than 120 degrees.
2. Do only full loads when using the clothes washer or dishwasher.
3. Install low-flow showerheads and sink aerators to reduce hot water use.
4. A water tank insulation wrap costs about $20 and helps hold the heat inside. Add pre-cut pipe insulation to exposed pipes going into your water heater—it is cheap and easy to install. If you’re starting with an uninsulated tank, the energy savings should pay for the improvements in just a few months.
5. When it’s time to replace your hot water tank, buy the most efficient one possible. Consider a tankless, on-demand system (these won’t work for everyone, so talk to your installer).

Laundry

1. Wash in cold water. Today's laundry detergents are made to clean clothes in cold water. The majority of energy used for washing clothes comes from heating water. Use hot water only for very dirty clothes and always use cold water for rinsing.
2. Don't overload the washer and dryer. Your clothes may not get clean and may need to be washed again. Overloading dryers uses excess energy because items take longer to dry.
3. Clean the lint from the clothes dryer after every load. The efficiency of the dryer goes down when lint collects over the dryer filter. Run full loads and use the moisture-sensing setting.
4. Buy an ENERGY STAR clothes washer, which uses 50% less energy and 40% less water per load than a conventional machine

Landscape

Trees that lose their leaves in the fall give protection from the summer sun and permit winter sunlight to reach and warm your home. Plant trees on the south, east, and/or west sides of your home. Be sure to shade the AC unit. Create a windbreak with evergreen trees and shrubs to stop chilling winds.