By choosing the right products for your home, you can knock a significant chunk off of your utility bills, and save precious resources as well.

1. A low flow shower head can pay for itself fast. It takes a lot of energy to run your home's water heater. And an inefficiently designed spray from the shower head wastes a lot of water. Water pick says their EcoFlow™ 1.5 shower head can save up to $109/year. And it's an easy 5 minute job to replace your old one. waterpikecoflow.com

2. Window film on windows that let sunlight heat up rooms in your house can reduce cooling costs. Window film can also make troublesome rooms more comfortable throughout the day and reduce fading of upholstery and carpet from UV rays. Different levels of tint are available, and it's easy to apply. Gilafilms.com sells their film through Home Depot. You can order it online from gaiam.com.

3. A programmable thermostat can let your air conditioner rest while you're gone, often during the peak, early afternoon hours. Then before you come home, the thermostat is programmed to bring your home to a comfortable temperature. You can buy them for between $30 and $100. They use low voltage, color coded wires, so most people should be able to replace the old one with little difficulty in 30-60 minutes. According to the government's Energy Star site, home owners can save between 5-18% on heating and cooling costs, depending on how many degrees the temperature is set back.

4. Eliminate unnecessary "phantom" or "vampire" loads, these are devices that are using a little electricity even when the device is turned off. According to the federal government, these loads constitute 4 percent of a residence's annual electric bill, or about $4 billion annually for homes nationwide. You can either unplug devices that you almost never use, or plug things like remote controlled TVs or stereos into power strips. Just flip the switch on the power strip when you want to use the device. This has the added benefit of protecting expensive electronic equipment from damage due to lightning when you aren't home.

5. Replace your furnace filter regularly. In the Canadian "One Tonne Challenge", it's recommended homeowners change their furnace filter frequently, and that they can save up to 3% on fuel costs. If you can find a several "2 percent here and 3 percent there" ways to reduce home energy consumption, you'll soon be saving 20% off your home energy costs, maybe a lot more. It depends how thorough and persistent you are. 

6. See if you can use solar powered yard lights instead of existing flood lights and porch lights. Those innocuous outdoor lights can really use a lot of energy if left on all night. For example 4 90 watt floodlights left on from 8 PM to 6 AM each night would use over 1300 KWh (kilowatt hours) in a years time. That's several times what an efficient major appliance would use in a year. And it's likely costing you over $80 per year in electricity. Outdoor solar lights make at least that part of your home "off the grid" and they'll be there for you in a power outage.

7. Make sure your computer isn't left running all the time. Verdiem, a company that specializes in minimizes PC energy waste for companies controlling PCs for data centers, estimates saving on electricity of up to $60 per PC per year if not left running.

Following these relatively simple and inexpensive ideas can save you a nice chunk of change.

July 2008