How To Save Energy â Save Money â Save the Planet
Tips on Energy Saving in the Family Home
What a frightening and confused world weâre living in!
Global Warming, Climate Change, Britney Spears, Rising Energy prices, Rising Food prices, Rising Transport prices, Paris Hilton and, just to put the icing on the cake, House prices dropping like a stone.
All these things are VERY scary!
Words never heard, five years ago, like âCarbon Footprintâ now conjure up visions of dried up fields and cities under water.
What can be done? I mean, really, this is getting way beyond a joke!
Well, the idea of âsaving electricityâ is one thatâs looking pretty good at the moment.
“Going Green” certainly is not viewed with the derision it was, sadly, twenty, ten, or even five years ago.
“Going Green” and “Energy Saving” are now responsible business practices.
It is finally being seen as good business sense to save the environment.
However, as energy costs continue to rise, you may be among the millions of people, all over the world, who are looking for ways to save electricity around their personal living environment – the family home.
Here are a few bright ideas that can save you small amounts of money in themselves, but they will add up to significant savings when taken altogether.
If you’re only preparing meals for one or two people, use the smaller burners on your stovetop. They use less energy than the big burners, and generally won’t take any longer to prepare your meals.
If you want to save even more, get a hot and tasty winter meal started in your crockpot before you head off to work. That way, it will be ready to eat when you get home, and you will have saved a surprising amount of electricity in the process.
You don’t always have to save huge amounts of energy to see a drop in your electric bill.
The simple act of leaving your computer monitor on all the time can cost you nearly $18 a month (approximately 60 cents a day). Itâs not too friendly to your monitor, either, as I found out about 12 months ago, when I had to buy a new one!
If you leave your cell phone and battery charger plugged in, you’ll pay $1.50 a month for the privilege. That might not seem like much, but small things like that represent a giant energy drain on the country when you think of the millions of people that do it.
More than $8 billion a year, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.
Insulate your water heater, or “geyser,” with a special insulating blanket. This can save you about 2KW hours a day, possibly more in cold climates. Also put insulation around your hot water pipes, to further reduce heat loss and lower your familyâs energy usage. Another way to save money and be kind to the environment!
Setting your thermostat a little lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer can also save money, and not just pocket change, either, significant amounts of money are simply wasted, every day.
If you’ve going to be out of the house for any length of time during the day, Turn Your Thermostat Down.
Even a few degrees up or down will save more than $100 a year on heating and cooling costs, according to Alliance to Save Energy calculations.
President-elect Obamaâs “New Energy for America” plan correctly cites energy efficiency as the “cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source” and calls for new energy efficiency policies and substantial federal investment in energy efficiency to help reduce U.S. oil dependence, create new jobs, and curb climate change, the Alliance said.
All in all, it won’t take a huge effort or sacrifice to save yourself significant amounts of money on your electric bills every month.
Look at your lifestyle and the things you use around the house every day. Do they really need to be on all the time? Can you do the various things you do on a daily basis in a different way that will use less electricity? All it takes is a little commitment to begin paying attention to the many small energy-draining details that can make a noticeable difference in your overall energy usage.
Utility companies offer energy audits, tips, and other help for customers who want to reduce energy consumption.
Call your local utility or log onto their website to see what they have to offer.
Consider How to Save Electricity by increasing your energy efficiency when buying new appliances. Appliances are labeled with energy usage comparison tables. Look at these figures. Also, you may be able to buy an adapter to make your older appliances more energy efficient.
Turn off appliances that no one is using. Turning off TV’s, lamps, computers, VCR’s, ovens, and other appliances that no one is using can reduce electric energy consumption. Even turning them off for short periods can produce noticeable results.
The âstand byâ mode, on most appliances uses about 60% as much electricity as when the appliance is being used. This electricity is a total waste, but YOU ARE STILL PAYING FOR IT. Something you donât even use!
Your home will need LESS electricity, the wasted energy will be conserved and re-disbursed through out your home. This will result in a LOWER ELECTRIC BILL!
Make sure the refrigerator door seals are tight. Test them by closing the door over a piece of paper or a dollar bill so it is half in and half out of the refrigerator. If you can pull the paper or bill out easily, the latch may need adjustment or the seal may need replacing.
If you have an electric oven turn it off 5 minutes before the food is done. The heat will stay in the oven and will continue to cook your food.
There, that wasnât too hard, was it?
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