Electrical & Electric

Five Energy Saving Suggestions No. 1

Save Energy Costs and Be More Environmentally Friendly

Introduction:

Save a lot of money on energy cost by taking action to implementing energy saving ideas. It really is not difficult, these energy saving suggestions can be performed by the homeowner as a DIY project and most of them can be completed in a single weekend. These energy saving guarantees and suggestions have been proven to save energy and save the homeowner money while also being affordable.

There have been many suggestions and ideas about saving energy, “green living” and becoming more environmentally friendly by reducing carbon footprints, but what really works and is also practical for the homeowner is often overlooked.    

Here are five great energy saving tips that have been proven to save energy and save money while also being affordable enough for all homeowners.  

Home lighting:                   

Lighting is necessary however it is often used as decorative features. We have become accustomed to placing lights wherever we desire, but recent increases in electric utility costs have us cutting back on what is not necessary. To get the most from your lighting:

• Replace all incandescent light bulbs  with energy efficient CFL's ( Compact Fluorescent Lights )

•  Using solar powered outdoor lighting.

• Install skylights to allow natural light into normally darkened areas of the home.

• Switching to CFL's and allowing more natural light to enter the home will reduce power usage while also increasing the amount of available light. When combined with reducing your outdoor lighting by using solar lamps, you are guaranteed to save energy.

Doors and windows:

There are several ways to improve the efficiency of the doors and windows in your home or apartment.

• Adjust the door thresholds to reduce the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold.

• On older doors, install weather stripping that seals the crack at the bottom of the door when the door is shut.

• Install weather stripping around the sides and top of all exterior doors.

• Install any available storm windows.

• f storm windows are not available remove the screens and wrap them with plastic and replace the screens.

• Caulk all exterior cracks around the window frame and home siding.

• Install heat shrinkable plastic on the inside of the window.

Electric clothes dryers:

The clothes dryer is one of the primary sources of wasted energy. Save dryer energy by doing the following;

• Install a dryer vent seal. This will eliminates back drafts from entering the home when the dryer is not in use to prevent cooling your home.

• Don't run the dryer on frigid winter nights or on hot summer afternoons because whenever you run the dryer and exhaust the air outdoors, the same amount of air is being sucked into your home from around your doors, windows, siding and bathroom vents.

• Stop pushing extra large loads through the dryer since it must run substantially longer to dry the clothes because there is simply no room for the clothes to tumble properly.

Bathroom Exhaust Fans:

Exhaust fans are very helpful in removing moisture and foul odors from the home, but they are also a primary source of energy waste. To improve their performance:

• Install a thirty to sixty minute timer for each exhaust fan switch. This will guarantee an exhaust fan is not running any longer than necessary.

• Annually, remove the cover from your exhaust fan and remove all the buildup on the blades and interior casing.

• As with a clothes dryer, exhaust fans are pulling in unconditioned outside air into your home while also exhausting air. This process is necessary but the focus is to reduce the amount to only what is necessary. By cleaning the exhaust fan every year you will ensure it is doing the best job it can so that it will perform its job quickly, allowing it to shut down sooner.

Computers and peripheral devices:

Computer manufacturers have done a good job at improving a computers capacity to shut down or hibernate when it detects it has not been used for pre-set period of time, but short of that, your printer, sound system, backup drives, etc, keep chugging away at using energy, often 24 hours a day in some homes. To resolve these issues or reduce their impact make the following changes:

• Install an energy saving smart strip for your computer and supporting devices. The smart strip device senses when you have shut down your computer and then shuts down all your other peripheral devices automatically.

• If you have the habit of leaving your computer on when it is not being used, you could work on improving your awareness of your habit and turn your computer off more often or set your computer to hibernate or sleep after two hours or so.

• Turning off the computer more and using a smart strip can reduce yearly energy costs by at least $30.00. 

These five energy saving guarantees will go a long way in saving you money on your energy cost. They won’t necessarily guarantee a green home but they will give you a good start. 

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