What are some of the cheaper ways you can reduce your home's energy usage and waste?
I was just getting ready to write an article about this. I would say turing the lights off when you leave a room, putting lights on sensors or timers, closing the drapes to keep cold out and opening them to let sunlight in, don't over kill the light bulbs watts....
I just installed my second programmable thermostat (and have in fact been asking related questions here). I havn't ran them through a full billing cycle yet to see the financial savings, but I do know that the furnace is running much less.
On the same subject of heating/cooling, make sure you regularly change your air filters. If they get clogged up with excessive dirt/dust, the heat pump/furnace needs to work harder to draw the air. This can make a pretty big diference.
Another thing you can do is check the water temperature of your hot water heater, make sure its not set excessively high. 120 degrees should be suffucient for you and your appliances (my dishwasher needs a min. of 120 degrees input water temp) and you could probably go lower if need be.
I've also been on a quest to replace traditonal bulbs with CFL's (with mild success). I realize that can get expensive, but try to replace the bulbs that burn the most first (I did my exterior lights that run from dusk to dawn).
A great place to start out is the wiki on How to Save Energy Around the House. And of course, feel free to add to it! :-)
"If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down"
-Bernie Focker
Switch to solar water heating. Use CFL bulbs and dimmable bulbs. Use fans instaed of air conditioning. Do check out some eco friendly tips on how to save the energy.
Switch to solar water heating. Use CFL bulbs and dimmable bulbs. Use fans instaed of air conditioning. Do check out some eco friendly tips on how to save the energy.
Apart from energy, another resource that we can save at home is Water. Here are some simple, inexpensive tips on water conservation at home: http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html By saving water at home, we not only reduce our water bill, but can also help the environment in a big way. Water levels in many parts of the world have dropped significantly. It might lead to drinking water shortages. Hence please make a conscious effort to save water at home and workplace and also request your friends, neighbors and family to implement water saving practices.
Another item to check are your heating and air conditioning ducts. We just put in Geothermal and as a part of the process found and sealed joints in the flexible ducting at main trunk lines and registers. I used mastic to seal those areas the installer didn't get to and am still finding places to fix. One of the flexible ducts had actually come nearly off so I was blowing some cool air into the attic. There are companies out there who can measure the flow and calculate leakage for you. Might be worth the investment.
Use your buying power.
Through it you can influence other people's energy usage. I mean, if you buy a local product instead of an imported one, you are preventing the item from being shipped to you, therefore you are obliging someone else to conserve energy.
Better yet, if you buy a second-hand item or if you repair a broken one, you are conserving all the energy that would be used in the manufacture and transport of a new one.
Buying power is awsome!
All of my computer equipment, tv equipment, etc is plugged into a power strip which I turn off whenever they are not in use. Of course if you use satellite or something like that for your tv, it will have to download for a minute or two before you can watch the tv, but I find that waiting 2 minutes to watch tv is worth not having it suck electricity when not in use. I also unplug all small appliances, especially in the kitchen, and especially if it has any type of light or clock that constantly draws power when not in use. That's the cheapest thing I can suggest!
Using dryer balls can cut down on drying time and thus have a positive impact on your energy usage.
Check the following blog please where the author did research on the claim of the dryer balls and found them to be useless.
http://urge4lessenergy.blogspot.com/2009/03/dryer-balls-save-no-energy.html
These are good tips. One comment is to make sure and not leave the ceiling fans on when you are not in the room. They don't actually cool the room, just make it feel cooler, so there is no beneefit if you are not in the room.
Becasue all the links point to the same website, I have to assume the Author (mrplprice) has a vested interest in this company? I would check prices..........
These are good tips. One comment is to make sure and not leave the ceiling fans on when you are not in the room. They don't actually cool the room, just make it feel cooler, so there is no beneefit if you are not in the room.
