What does this mean for you and your household. It can simply mean turning off the lights when there not in use, or don't keep the water running when not being used. Today you can make the decision to go a little more green and save money along the way, here are some household tips to achieve that:
Power off
- The screensaver on your computer uses the same amount of power as when it's on and being used. Switch your PC off if you're going to be away for a while.
- Turn down your water heater. By lowering the temperature on your water heater from 140 to 120 degrees will reduce your water heating costs by 6-10%
- 50-70% of a household energy costs come from heating & cooling according to the Department of Energy.
- Installing a programmable thermostat will save you approximetly $150 a year.
- Aim for 78 degrees of higher when you are at home while reducing your cooling loads 10-20%. When you are away from home make it 85 degrees, and save an additional 5-12%.
- In cold weather for every degree you lower the thermostat you will save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill.
Unplug
- Unplug unused chargers, plugged in cellphones, laptops or anything for that matter. Americans throw away about 8% of our annual electric bill from having objects just simply plugged in.
- The easiest way to save is to buy a surge protector that can plug in multiple units, that way you can turn off more than one charger in one switch.
Light Fixtures
- Install CFL's, the spiral-shaped bulbs known as compact fluorescents use less than a third of the energy regular bulbs use and last 10x longer.
- If every household in the U.S. replaced just on regular bulb with a CFL, the amount of energy saved could light 2.5 million homes for a year.
Water Fixtures
- Buy low-flow toilets, they use less than a gallon of water, brands such as American Standard, Toto and Kohler. Toilets used to use about 5 gallons per flush, so if your toilet is outdated it may be time to make this change.
- Buy low-flow shower heads, which can decrease water usage by 50-70%. They only cost about $8
- install low-flow faucets.
- Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.
- Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.
Upgrade to Energy Star Appliances
- Look for the blue and white label which means the item uses at least 10-50% more efficient than standard models. more than 18,000 products have the Energy Star design.
Other
- Use a water filter to purify tap water instead of buying bottled water. It will save you money & help you live a more green lifestyle.
- Bring a reusable water bottle, preferably aluminum rather than plastic, with you when traveling or at work.
