Saving energy costs

[rt49andellis]

We use a wood burning stove to heat our house. That in itself saves us alot of money. And we also use it for cooking. We can put things like corn on the cob & potatoes inside and then put pots/pans/aluminum foil on top to cook. Saves alot of money.

[Raquelita]

We made sure to buy energy-efficient appliances, especially our dishwasher and washing machine -- it has really paid off. We also have energy efficient windows and use fluorescent bulbs, and have a programmable thermostat.

[clara]

LIGHTING
Use natural light whenever possible.
Turn off lights when not in use.
Clean bulbs regularly. Dirt lessens illumination by as much as 50%. Use low wattage light bulbs in areas that do not need strong lighting such as hallways, foyers and doorways.
Use lamps that provide direct lighting over desks, beds and other work areas. Using them saves energy instead of the higher wattage lighting used to illuminate the whole room.

[clara]

Cooking

Plan ahead. Prepare all ingredients before cooking to avoid frequent switching of electric stove.
Thaw frozen food thoroughly before cooking. Match pots and pans to stove element. Avoid using a big burner for a small pan to lessen heat transfer loss.
Cover pots and pans. Cover pots with lids to prevent heat from escaping.
Use flat-bottomed pots and pans when using electric stove. They provide faster heat transfer.
Switch off. Turn off the electric stove during the last minutes of cooking. The remaining heat will make the food simmer.

[clara]

Refrigerator

Give it room to breathe. Place refrigerators at least 4 inches away from the wall so as not to overwork the motor.
Clean condenser coils. The coils at the back remove heat.
Clean it twice a year using a vacuum cleaner or broom.
Check door gaskets. Make sure refrigerator doors are sealed tightly to prevent cold air from escaping.
Defrost regularly. Defrost before frost builds up to 1/4 inch to keep refrigerator running efficiently.
When buying new refrigerators, be sure to purchase energy efficient models.
Look for units with the highest Energy Efficient Factor (EEF). It is more efficient and costs less to operate.

[phoenyxstarr]

We used to always hang laundry out to dry when I was growing up. I love the smell of line-dried sheets and blankets. I wish I could line-dry my clothes now but my dog pulls everything off the line & chews it up. We would tie him up away from the clothes line but it is illegal here to do that to animals. Plus he whines alot if we do that; we had to have a heat/air tech come to the house to fix the a/c and I had him on the leash with me outside & he whined and whimpered like a puppy.

Since the temperature has dropped this past week, it went from 100+ everyday to barely 90 this week so far, I usually turn the a/c off and have the doors open most of the day. Just gotta watch the baby, she likes to try to go outside when they are open.

One thing that my electric company told us to save energy is to unplug the 'vampire' products. Like your cell phone chargers, or other battery chargers. Those keep sucking electricity even though they have no where to put the energy. Another one is a PlayStation 2, or anything that has a indicator light that stays on all the time.

I know it sounds stupid & redundant to say this but you'd be surprised how many people forget it: Make sure you turn off all your lights & TV when you leave the house. I know alot of people who forget to turn the porch light off when they go to bed at night. Or whenever they don't need it on anymore. My daughter is real bad about leaving the bathroom light on, I keep getting on to her about it, but she's 10 & everyone knows how kids are.

[muslgrl]

I found this pretyy interesting

Top 10 No-, Low-Cost Tips For Cool Energy Savings

Washington, DC (May 31, 2006) - Saving energy this summer just got easier. America’s electric utilities have put together the following 10 no-, low-cost tips to guide you. With each tip are the potential energy savings you can expect. Besides saving energy, you will be making your home more comfortable, and you will be helping to protect the environment too.

Set thermostat at 78 degrees or higher when the house is occupied, and at 85 degrees when vacant (save 1 – 2 percent per degree raised on cooling costs).
Regularly clean/replace the air conditioner’s air filter (save up to 5 percent on annual energy costs).
Keep the door and vents closed in unused rooms (save up to 3 percent on cooling costs).
On hot, sunny days, keep the curtains closed on windows facing south and west (save 2 – 4 percent on cooling costs).
Caulk and weather-strip around windows and doors (save 1 – 4 percent on cooling costs).
Wash/dry full loads of clothes and use cold water as much as possible (save 2 – 4 percent on energy costs).
Set the water heater’s temperature to 120 degrees (save up to 10 percent on water heating costs; check by placing a thermometer under a tap).
Use a microwave oven instead of a regular oven (save up to 50 percent on cooking costs).
Install compact fluorescent lights in high-use fixtures (save about 66 percent on lighting cost per fixture).
Take advantage of the new federal tax credits when making energy efficiency improvements to your home: http://www.energytaxincentives.org/
For more help, visit your electric company’s Web site. They have free, energy-saving information, and many utilities also offer energy-saving incentive programs. For more information, and a listing of electric utility incentive programs by state, visit http://www.eei.org/wiseuse.



# # #

Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of United States shareholder-owned electric companies, international affiliates, and industry associates worldwide. Our U.S. members serve 97 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder owned segment of the industry, and 71 percent of all electric utility ultimate customers in the nation. They generate almost 60 percent of the electricity produced by U.S. electric generators

[muslgrl]

Energy-Efficient Water Heating
To lower your water heating bills, try one or more of these energy-saving strategies:

Reduce your hot water use
Lower your water heating temperature
Insulate your water heater tank
Insulate hot water pipes
Install heat traps on a water heater tank
Install a timer and use off-peak power for an electric water heater
Install a drain-water heat recovery system.
If you haven't already, you can save energy and money by installing a new, more energy-efficient water heater in your home.

[muslgrl]

Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits
You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple but diligent walk-through, you can spot many problems in any type of house. When auditing your home, keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems you found. This list will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades.

Locating Air Leaks
First, make a list of obvious air leaks (drafts). The potential energy savings from reducing drafts in a home may range from 5 to 30% per year, and the home is generally much more comfortable afterward. Check for indoor air leaks, such as gaps along the baseboard or edge of the flooring and at junctures of the walls and ceiling. Check to see if air can flow through these places:

Electrical outlets
Switch plates
Window frames
Baseboards
Weather stripping around doors
Fireplace dampers
Attic hatches
Wall- or window-mounted air conditioners.
Also look for gaps around pipes and wires, electrical outlets, foundation seals, and mail slots. Check to see if the caulking and weather stripping are applied properly, leaving no gaps or cracks, and are in good condition.

Inspect windows and doors for air leaks. See if you can rattle them, since movement means possible air leaks. If you can see daylight around a door or window frame, then the door or window leaks. You can usually seal these leaks by caulking or weather stripping them. Check the storm windows to see if they fit and are not broken. You may also wish to consider replacing your old windows and doors with newer, high-performance ones. If new factory-made doors or windows are too costly, you can install low-cost plastic sheets over the windows.

If you are having difficulty locating leaks, you may want to conduct a basic building pressurization test:

First, close all exterior doors, windows, and fireplace flues.
Turn off all combustion appliances such as gas burning furnaces and water heaters.
Then turn on all exhaust fans (generally located in the kitchen and bathrooms) or use a large window fan to suck the air out of the rooms.
This test increases infiltration through cracks and leaks, making them easier to detect. You can use incense sticks or your damp hand to locate these leaks. If you use incense sticks, moving air will cause the smoke to waver, and if you use your damp hand, any drafts will feel cool to your hand.

On the outside of your house, inspect all areas where two different building materials meet, including:

All exterior corners
Where siding and chimneys meet
Areas where the foundation and the bottom of exterior brick or siding meet.
You should plug and caulk holes or penetrations for faucets, pipes, electric outlets, and wiring. Look for cracks and holes in the mortar, foundation, and siding, and seal them with the appropriate material. Check the exterior caulking around doors and windows, and see whether exterior storm doors and primary doors seal tightly.

When sealing any home, you must always be aware of the danger of indoor air pollution and combustion appliance "backdrafts." Backdrafting is when the various combustion appliances and exhaust fans in the home compete for air. An exhaust fan may pull the combustion gases back into the living space. This can obviously create a very dangerous and unhealthy situation in the home.

In homes where a fuel is burned (i.e., natural gas, fuel oil, propane, or wood) for heating, be certain the appliance has an adequate air supply. Generally, one square inch of vent opening is required for each 1,000 Btu of appliance input heat. When in doubt, contact your local utility company, energy professional, or ventilation contractor.

Insulation
Heat loss through the ceiling and walls in your home could be very large if the insulation levels are less than the recommended minimum. When your house was built, the builder likely installed the amount of insulation recommended at that time. Given today's energy prices (and future prices that will probably be higher), the of insulation level might be inadequate, especially if you have an older home.

If the attic hatch is located above a conditioned space, check to see if it is at least as heavily insulated as the attic, is weather stripped, and closes tightly. In the attic, determine whether openings for items such as pipes, ductwork, and chimneys are sealed. Seal any gaps with an expanding foam caulk or some other permanent sealant.

While you are inspecting the attic, check to see if there is a vapor barrier under the attic insulation. The vapor barrier might be tarpaper, Kraft paper attached to fiberglass batts, or a plastic sheet. If there does not appear to be a vapor barrier, you might consider painting the interior ceilings with vapor barrier paint. This reduces the amount of water vapor that can pass through the ceiling. Large amounts of moisture can reduce the effectiveness of insulation and promote structural damage.

Make sure that the attic vents are not blocked by insulation. You also should seal any electrical boxes in the ceiling with flexible caulk (from the living room side or attic side) and cover the entire attic floor with at least the current recommended amount of insulation.

Checking a wall's insulation level is more difficult. Select an exterior wall and turn off the circuit breaker or unscrew the fuse for any outlets in the wall. Be sure to test the outlets to make certain that they are not "hot." Check the outlet by plugging in a functioning lamp or portable radio. Once you are sure your outlets are not getting any electricity, remove the cover plate from one of the outlets and gently probe into the wall with a thin, long stick or screwdriver. If you encounter a slight resistance, you have some insulation there. You could also make a small hole in a closet, behind a couch, or in some other unobtrusive place to see what, if anything, the wall cavity is filled with. Ideally, the wall cavity should be totally filled with some form of insulation material. Unfortunately, this method cannot tell you if the entire wall is insulated, or if the insulation has settled. Only a thermographic inspection can do this.

If your basement is unheated, determine whether there is insulation under the living area flooring. In most areas of the country, an R-value of 25 is the recommended minimum level of insulation. The insulation at the top of the foundation wall and first floor perimeter should have an R-value of 19 or greater. If the basement is heated, the foundation walls should be insulated to at least R-19. Your water heater, hot water pipes, and furnace ducts should all be insulated. For more information, see our insulation section.

Heating/Cooling Equipment
Inspect heating and cooling equipment annually, or as recommended by the manufacturer. If you have a forced-air furnace, check your filters and replace them as needed. Generally, you should change them about once every month or two, especially during periods of high usage. Have a professional check and clean your equipment once a year.

If the unit is more than 15 years old, you should consider replacing your system with one of the newer, energy-efficient units. A new unit would greatly reduce your energy consumption, especially if the existing equipment is in poor condition. Check your ductwork for dirt streaks, especially near seams. These indicate air leaks, and they should be sealed with a duct mastic. Insulate any ducts or pipes that travel through unheated spaces. An insulation R-Value of 6 is the recommended minimum.

Lighting
Energy for lighting accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where 60 or 75 watts would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility may offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient lamps.

[barbiedoll1973_tn]

These are very good things to do I already hang my clothes out to dry I have done this for years But I do not have a line in my garage I need to put one there. And I also buy those light bulbs I just started buying these and I still need a few more.
Great post. Thanks