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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.
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A great tool to measure how much your
electrical devices use is the Kill
A Watt. It gives you a digital readout in watts. It's really
surprising how much electricity some devices use, such as a desktop PC
and monitor, and big screen TVs.
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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.
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Freebies:
Some
experts recommend washing 4 out of 5 loads of laundry in cold water.
You may
be able to set your water heater setting back; 120 degrees is a common
recommendation. Every 10 degree temperature reduction can save 3 to 5
percent on water heating costs. Heating water accounts for about 13
percent of a home's utility bill.
Air dry
your dishes at the end of the dishwashers cycle; you can crack the door
open to let your dishes dry "the natural way".
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Following
these relatively simple and inexpensive ideas can save you a nice chunk
of change.
July
2008
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