Live Green Style

Green Tips for everyday: Conserving Energy – At Home

1. When using an oven, minimize door opening while it is in use; it reduces oven temperature by 25 to 30 every time you open the door.
2. Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
3. Purchase appliances and office equipment with the Energy Star Label
4. Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use. This tip is the oldest trick in the green-friendly book, but how many of us always follow it? The spike of electricity required to turn on a light, even a fluorescent bulb, is small. If you are leaving the room for more than 60 seconds, it definitively pays to turn out the lights.
5. Plant trees to shade your home.
6. Replace old windows with energy efficient ones.
7. Install weather stripping around all doors and windows.
8. Keep your thermostat at 68 in winter and 78 in summer.
9. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save money and energy.
10. Use a microwave when- ever you can instead of a conventional oven or stove.
11. Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every load so that it uses less energy.
12. Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month.
13. If you have central air conditioning, do not close vents in unused rooms.
14. Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120.
15. Wrap your water heater in an insulated blanket.
16. Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.
17. Set your refrigerator temperature at 36 to 38 and your freezer at 0 to 5 .
18. Unplug seldom used appliances.
19. Reverse your indoor ceiling fans for summer and winter operations as recommended.
20. Only use electric appliances when you need them.
21. Keep your thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter when you are away.
22. Insulate your home as best as you can.
23. Shut off electrical equipment in the morning before leaving for work and in the evening before going to bed.
24. Shade outside air conditioning units by trees or other means.
25. Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible.
26. Connect your outdoor lights to a timer.
27. Buy green electricity – electricity produced by low – or even zero-pollution facilities
28. Unplug electrical items such as video game systems and plasma TV’s when not in use.
Reduce your phantom load. What’s that? Phantom load is the term used to describe all of the electricity that devices draw when they are switched “off.” Your TV, DVD player, microwave and other household items all draw power even when they are not in use. In fact, phantom load accounts for 5% of the electricity used in the country! You don’t have to go around unplugging everything in your house, but perhaps a few items that get used rarely could be unplugged.
29. Wrap up your hot water heater — Use a thick fiberglass blanket to insulate your hot-water heater and reduce your energy bill.