Practical Advice To Save On Home Energy Cost.
Having just finished the winter heating season and now heading into the summer cooling season I have been looking at ways to save on home energy cost and cut my energy usage in my home without sacrificing any comfort. Last week I focused on the Heating/Cooling system. This week I am focusing on other practical tips to save energy usage and ultimately cost. If you want to do additional research, a good source of information is energystar.gov.
Lighting
There are some general ways to save on home energy cost. The first is lighting. It cost about $20 dollars a year to leave a light on 8 ours a day. So when you leave a room, shut the lights off. Ceiling fans have both lights and a motor for the fans. Leaving the fan running and the light on is a big source of wasted energy. The fan does not cool the room. The temperature in the room does not change because you run the fan. When you are in the room and the fan is running, you feel cooler because of the air movement across your body. When you leave the room, make sure the fan is off.
Lighting can use up to 12 percent of your overall yearly energy usage. Studies have shown that if you replace the 5 most frequently used lights in your house with Energystar rated light bulbs you could save up to $70 per year in energy cost. ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) provide high-quality light output, use less energy and last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs, saving money on energy bills and replacement costs. The CFL lights also generate less heat thereby reducing the cost to cool your house in the summer.
A light that I tend to forget about is my outdoor yard light that comes on automatically in the evening and shuts off in the morning. Changing this light bulb to a CFL is an easy place to save money. You can also buy an Energy Star rated fixture for your outside light that uses advance CFL technology to save even more money.
Electronics
Another source of energy consumption is the electronics we have in our home. It is estimated that 75% of the energy these products use is when the products are turned off. They still consume power to maintain their readiness. A simple way to reduce this energy loss is to simply unplug the products.
When I looked at the products I had in my house, there were some that were plugged in but I haven’t used in months. It did not make sense to have them plugged in. You could also argue that it did not make sense to own them anymore either. Unplugging them was not hard to do. On some of them, I caught myself thinking, I don’t want to unplug this for I like having the timer and clock set correctly. But then thinking about, I haven’t used the timer or the clock in years. Hence, they get unplugged!
Vent Fans
Bathroom ventilation fans are used to control moisture in the air while you shower or bathe, as well as control mold and mildew growth. It is recommended that you run your fan for 15 minutes after showering. ENERGY STAR qualified ventilation fans are much quieter than standard models. Models that include lighting use 70% less energy on average than standard models, saving more than $60 in electricity over the life of the fan.
Drapes
A simple way to save on home energy cost and to increase the comfort of your home is to utilizeDrapes that can easily be open or closed to take advantage of the sun when you can. During cold weather, take advantage of the sun’s warmth by keeping drapes open during daylight hours. To keep out the heat of the summer sun, close window shades and drapes in warm weather.
Air Register
Make sure that air registers are not blocked. If possible try to make sure that furniture is not placed in front of over the top of the registers. This blocks the air flow and limits the ability to get air into the room to cool or heat the room as required.
In summary, some of these ways to save on home energy cost are easy to do. Some may be a little more difficult to do. I am doing what I can and what makes common sense to me. I like knowing I am saving some energy usage and saving myself some cost in the process