Energy Saving Tips for your Home and Vehicle

Top Ten Energy-Saving Tips for your Home

1. Turn thermostats down by 3 to 5 degrees on your furnace and water heater. Yes, this may mean wearing more clothes in the house. That's one of things they're for. And if you can't hold your hand under the hot water, it's too hot!
2. Turn the heat down further when you leave the house for the day, and turn it down when you sleep at night. If you have a programmable thermostat, even better - you can program it to do this for you, and set it to bring the heat up before you get home and before you get up.
3. Get your furnace tuned and cleaned every other year; replace the air filters at least annually if not seasonally. Make sure heating units or registers are free and clear. There's no sense in heating the back of the couch.
4. Next to space heating, water heating uses the most energy. Wrap your water heater with insulation. Wash your clothes in cold water. Consider whether it's necessary to shower every day (Heresy!), especially in the winter. Take shorter showers when you take them.
5. Turn off the lights when you leave the room, even if it's just for a moment. In rooms with track or recessed lighting, where multiple bulbs go on and off from a single switch, consider removing some bulbs or lowering wattage.
6. Put "phantom power" appliances (instant-on things like TVs, radios, "stereos" etc. - the things that have those little red lights that keep glowing) on power strips so you can turn them off completely without unplugging. Make sure your home computer goes into sleep or hibernates (shutting the monitor down) when you're not using it; shut the machine down if you don't use it for hours at a time.
7. Every time a bulb blows out, replace it with a CFL. And, yes there is mercury in them, but not enough to present a greater health hazard than the mercury coming from a generating plant - even if you do break it! But do dispose of CFLs properly.
8. Never underestimate the power of insulation. Are you heating the attic? Does the snow melt on your roof, even on the shady side? Do you know how much insulation you have in your walls? Install storm doors, and make sure they close snugly.
9. Cover windows at night. Double pane windows still radiate cold into the room. Hanging a layer of inexpensive fleece blanket behind your window curtains can make a big difference.
10. You can use a stick of incense to check around your windows and doors for drafts, and add insulating material where it's needed. Insulate behind face plates on electric outlets and switch plates.

Changes in your cooking and kitchen habits: 

1. Get rid of those electrical kitchen gadgets – unless you really can’t use the manual versions – like the can opener, carving knife, even the mixer.  There are great manual food processors available, too.
2. Only heat the water you need on the stove top.  Filling the kettle all the way for one cup of tea is throwing money away.
3. Try turning the heat off early in the oven or when steaming on the stove top, allowing the residual heat to finish the job.  Add a few minutes to cooking time if necessary.
4. Use the smallest cooking unit (pan, oven, pot) you can use so you are not heating unneeded air or water.
5. Consider replacing older appliances with newer, EnergyStar models.  Often the energy savings will pay for the additional cost in three to five years.

For your vehicle

Money you spend on gasoline or diesel fuel is money you could use to help pay for those winter heating bills:

1. Don’t idle the vehicle when you are not in traffic.  Period.  No warm up, not curb side, never longer than 10 seconds. 
2. Park it and WALK into the bank, the coffee shop, the drug store or the restaurant.  Chances are you’ll get faster service, anyway.
3. Keep the vehicle tuned and the tires properly inflated.  Clean out the trunk and the back seat so you are carrying less weight.  It’s just more efficient.
4. Drive more slowly and avoid rapid acceleration.
5. Don't drive. Walk. Take the bus, train, commuter van. Ride share. Combine all your shopping trips into one, local trip. Always ask "Do I have to do this?"; And, for highway trips with tolls, get an EZ Pass.

Don’t be afraid to share this information with neighbors and friends!