Energy Saving at Home

One of the easiest energy saving in the home tips is to reduce energy consumption by changing light bulbs to energy saving compact fluorescent (CFL) or L.E.D. bulbs - invest in these energy saving bulbs and quickly create an energy cost savings of up to 75% out of the approximately 10% of your electric bill that goes to home lighting. I’ve changed about 75% of the lights in my house to CFL bulbs, and estimate that we save about $50 (US) every year. Since the bulbs much cost less than that, the payback is immediate and ongoing.

This often-overlooked easy energy saver will painlessly give you energy cost savings. Trouble remembering to turn off lights as you leave the room? Use motion sensing switches and modules to do this automatically for you. In addition, it’s great when you come into the house after dark with your hands full ... the lights automatically turn on for you. Outdoors, motion sensing switches automatically light your way from your parked car to your doorway and give your home added security while conserving electricity.

Another easy energy saving idea is ... open the shades and turn off the lights - even if they are energy saving compact fluorescent (CFL) or L.E.D. bulbs. Temper this easy energy saver a bit depending on the time of year. Closed blinds keep heat in the house in the winter - but the sunlight helps add warmth - especially on windows facing the sun - and sunlight streaming in eliminates the need for additional lights conserving electricity. Of course, adding skylights to your home will always allow more daylight in and let you keep the lights off for more energy cost savings. In addition, an exciting new technology is the "Light Tube." This is for rooms that do not have direct access to the roof where a normal skylight would be. This easy energy saver "pipes" the light from a skylight, through a reflective tube, into the room - so you don’t need to turn the lights on as much for more electric energy savings.

Another one of the best home energy saving and management ideas is to set your programmable home thermostat for cooler temperatures in the winter months, and warmer temperatures in the summer. This subtle energy saving tip is one of the best - and easiest - ways of conserving energy. Home heating and cooling consumes a large portion of your annual energy bill, so home energy saving here will reduce energy costs and cut a lot of money from your energy bills, and, of course, it is better for our planet. In addition, on forced air heating and cooling systems, for greater home energy efficiency, replace the filters frequently. The increased airflow will provide more comfort at greater energy cost savings.

How to save energy with your dishwasher? Air-dry your dishes. Many newer dishwasher models feature an "Air Dry" setting that bypasses the normal heated air-drying cycle, and pops open the door to quickly dry the warm dishes and reduce energy costs. If your dishwasher does not have this home energy saving idea, you can manually open the door after the last rinse for your own money and electricity saving air-dry feature.

As you replace your refrigerator, cook stove, home heating, water heating, air conditioning, and clothes washing and drying appliances, always look for the Energy Star Label (in the US -- look for equivalent Energy Rating qualifications in other parts of our world). Compare the expected annual energy use for the particular appliance, and buy the one that costs the least to run. Make sure you include the purchase price of your energy saving appliances in your cost comparisons. This also increases demand for energy efficient appliances, and with increased demand will come increased supply - and lower cost.

One of the best ways to conserve energy is the electricity savings that comes from controlling the power used by electronic devices when they are supposedly "switched off." Today, many electronic devices, even so-called energy efficient appliances, actually continue to consume power when you turn them off. In addition, devices with remote controls or clocks consume power all the time. Moreover, the chargers for your cell phones and portable music players consume electricity as long as they are plugged in even when they not actually charging your device. Therefore, the best energy saving idea is to conserve electricity by unplugging these devices or putting them on either smart switched power strips or manual switched power strips so you can disconnect them from electricity when they are not in use. This kind of home energy efficiency saves energy and money every day.

Another big consumer of "Phantom Power" is our computers, so for electric energy savings turn the computer and peripherals OFF when not in use. Plug the computer, monitor, speakers, printers, external drives, scanners, into a "Switched Power Strip." Then, when you will be away from the computer for a few hours or more, shut down the computer and switch off the external power strip. This is a major home energy savings over the course of a year.

For home energy saving, use appliances at peak energy efficiency. First, only wash full loads - but if you must wash a small load, use lower water settings, and, of course, for a real, "how to save energy," always wash in cold water. Reduce energy costs: hang clothes to air dry to save that much more energy and money. More energy conservation saving us money, when you do use the dryer, use the automatic moisture sensing drying cycle, and always clean the lint filter for maximum airflow. Set your refrigerator to an energy saving 38° - 42° F (3° - 6° C), and conserve energy with your freezer at 0° - 5° F (-17° - 15° C) - colder than this does not make food last longer, but costs you extra money. Another easy energy saver: set your domestic hot water a few degrees cooler - you won’t notice the reduced temperature, and you will save energy. Quick and easy!

This is another very easy energy saver and actually is the do it yourself start to a home energy audit. You can take this action gradually, and increase home energy efficiency with some easy to apply steps. Close all the windows and doors as tightly as you can. Then turn on any exhaust fans that you have to force air to come into your home wherever it can. Walk around your home and hold a moistened hand in front of all the cracks, borders, and seams around all your windows, doors, and any other place where there could be an opening to the outside. You will feel coolness on your moist hand wherever air is coming in. Seal those leaks, and you reduce energy costs. Easy!

If you are planning any remodeling, plan to increase your energy efficiency with new energy efficient windows. This is one of the great ways to conserve energy and save money. Newer windows actually have two panes of glass sealed together with an inert gas between the layers to drastically cut the amount of energy that is lost through the window. This means less heat gets out during the cooler weather and less heat gets in during the warmer weather. They also have reflective coatings that transmit light, but reduce the heat transmission. Depending on when your home was built, these new technology windows may reduce energy consumption by quite a bit, quickly offsetting the investment. And, of course, look for rebates and tax credits for energy saving in the home improvements.

Plant shade trees around the house. Deciduous trees that lose their leaves during the winter provide shade in warmer weather and allow the sun through for warming in the cooler weather. Plant shrubs around the base of your home with about a 1-foot (.3 meter) air space between the shrubs and the house wall. This is an energy cost savings with an insulating air layer to help keep the home warmer in the winter and cooler during the summer.

Showering is a great place for energy saving in the home. Replace your old showerhead with newer Low Flow (1.5 gpm) showerheads. You will use less hot water - and save energy and money every time you shower.

Energy saving in the home starts with ... the home. Everyone’s home leaks energy. Some just a bit, others a lot. Good energy conservation and management tells us to look around our homes to find the places that we "leak energy" and money - a Do it Yourself Home Energy Audit. We might need calking around our doors and windows, or between the foundation and the walls. Possibly add more insulation in the attic or crawl space - or in the walls. Leaking faucets are leaking energy, especially if it is a hot water faucet. Ductwork that carries warm or cool through unheated spaces may need insulation around it. Hot water pipes, both heat and domestic hot water, should be insulated against heat loss. And so on. A walk around the house looking very hard at possible places where energy can be lost, and then implementing repairs, will wind up saving you energy and money.

Stepping outside the home, whenever possible, instead of firing up the car, walk. You will save all that gas and the money it costs. In addition, of course, cars that get higher mileage will cost you even less when you actually do have to use it.