Why Develop Energy Consciousness?
The energy use of two families living in two homes that are EXACTLY alike can vary by 100 percent -- which means that how you use what’s in your home can double (or halve) your energy bills.
Energy Efficiency vs. Energy Conservation
Energy efficiency is a far cry from old energy conservation images. It’s not turning down the thermostat and sacrificing comfort. Energy efficiency means getting the most from every energy unit by using state-of-the-art technologies to provide daily needs -- comfortable homes, profitable businesses, convenient transportation. It is the single most immediate, cost-effective way to reduce energy use and pollution.
If your house were energy efficient, you could lower your thermostat and be comfortable day and night, without drafts, cold spots, or guilt while doing your share for your family, your finances, and your environment.
If you replaced just four 100-watt incandescent bulbs that burn four or more hours a day in your home with four 23-watt fluorescent bulbs, you’d get as much light and save at least 452 kilowatt-hours of electricity and $82 over three years. If all our nation’s households did the same, we’d save as much energy as is consumed by some seven million cars in one year.
IS YOUR HOME LEAKING ENERGY DOLLARS?
Perhaps your home wasn’t built using today’s high-quality, energy-efficient products or techniques. Perhaps previous occupants never took take care of problems -- and your heating and cooling bills are higher than you’d like. Where might energy be flowing from your home?
It might be going out the window -- literally. The average home has enough leaks around its windows and doors to equal one open three foot by three foot window! Check your home’s first line of defense against the elements -- the roof, walls, floors, windows, and doors. It pays to deal with air leaks first to get the maximum savings from your heating and cooling systems and other energy-efficiency measures.
It’s A Fact
Double-pane windows with low-e coating can reduce heating bills by 34 percent in cold climates compared to uncoated, single-pane windows. In hot climates, spectrally selective low-e windows can cut cooling costs by 38 percent.
KEEPING YOUR
C-O-O-O-L
Your thermostat controls the heating and cooling system that consumes more than half of the energy in your home -- the biggest chunk of your family’s energy budget. How much of that energy is used to keep your house comfortable when no one is home or everyone is asleep? Probably a lot, if you don’t adjust the thermostat when you leave the house or go to bed.
Introducing the programmable thermostat! It automatically coordinates the temperature of your home with your daily and weekly (weekend) patterns -- so you don’t have to awaken to a chilly bedroom in winter or come home to a stuffy house in summer. Once you make the settings, you don’t have to adjust the thermostat again.
Rule of thumb for thermostat savings: For each degree you lower your thermostat in winter, you can save about 3 percent on your heating bill. An Energy Star furnace could save $1,700 relative to an old furnace, or $1,000 over the lifetime of a standard new furnace.
|
Energy Saving Tips
|
|
|
When adding a programmable thermostat or replacing a furnace, air conditioner, or heat pump, look for the Energy Star label. You can get additional information from the yellow EnergyGuide label to compare every model in a category, its capacity, and estimated yearly energy cost. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
When adjusting the thermostat by hand, remember that the house will not warm up or cool down any faster if you crank up the thermostat past the desired temperature. Besides, it is easy to forget to turn it back down, which will waste energy dollars. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
If you have a heat pump, dramatically turning up the heat by hand is costly because it may trigger the inefficient backup heater, which is most often electric, eating up any savings from reducing the thermostat. |
|
|
|
|
|
Clean or replace furnace and air conditioner filters once a month during heating/cooling season. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Set your hot water heater thermostat at 120 degrees (or “low”). It’s hot enough for most needs -- including dishwashers, which are generally made with booster heaters -- and it cuts down on energy needed to keep water hot in the tank. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wrap your hot water tank in an insulating “blanket” if it feels warm to the touch. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use warm or cold water for laundry when possible, rinse in cold, and wash when you have full loads. Today’s cold water detergents do a good job. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Activate your Energy Star “sleep” feature on home office equipment (PC, fax, printer, scanner) -- so that it automatically powers down when not in use to save up to $70 annually in electricity bills and improve product longevity. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Turning off your computer during long periods of non-use cuts costs and improves longevity. | |
