Save Dollars and Go Greener at Home

Energy costs have been rising for your home. None of us like to open our utility bills each month. There are various ways to reduce your utility bills including many that have little or no cost. Lowering your utility bills may also make a positive impact on the environment. My review this month offers tips that can help you save money and go greener at home.

There are many ways in which you can begin to save money without spending a lot of money.

Raise your thermostat in the summer, lower your thermostat in the winter. For each degree you raise or lower your thermostat, you can save anywhere from 1% to 5% on your cooling or heating bill depending on where you live. Use a programmable thermostat to automatically raise or lower the temperature at night and when you are away from home.

Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees. Insulate exposed hot water pipes. Older hot-water storage tanks may benefit from an insulation blanket designed for hot water heaters.

Replace your standard (incandescent) light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFLs) bulbs. Even though CFLs cost more, they are more efficient and last longer. Incandescent light bulbs lose about 90% of the electricity they use as heat. To find the appropriate CFLs for your home, use this guide from environmentaldefense.org.

Properly maintain your heating and cooling equipment. Check your filters once a month and clean or replace them as necessary. Have your equipment tuned up at least once a year.

Have a home energy audit done. A home energy audit assesses how much energy your home uses and to determine what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. You can conduct the audit yourself using the Home Energy Saver tool from the Department of Energy (DOE). Your power company may offer free or low-cost audits. Home Energy Audits from the DOE provides more information.

Wash and dry only full loads of clothes. Use the appropriate water-level setting for the size of the load. Use cold water and cold water detergents whenever possible.

Wash only full loads of dishes. Air dry dishes instead of using the dishwasher's drying cycle.

In the summer, keep the windows covered to keep the sun out. In the winter, let the sun in. The sun can heat up a home, which can be advantageous in the winter but not so in the summer.

Fix leaky faucets and toilets. Over a year’s time, those drips can add up to hundreds if not thousands of gallons of water. To check if a toilet tank is leaking, put a drop of food coloring in the tank. If it appears in the toilet bowl, then the tank is leaking.

Install aerating low-flow showerheads and faucets. Take a short shower instead of a tub bath. Taking a 5-minute shower with a 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead can save anywhere from 15 to 55 gallons over a tub bath.

Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving. That can save up to a gallon of water a minute.

Check your insulation. Your home energy audit will indicate if you need to add insulation to your attic or walls. You can also check yourself for drafts around windows, vent openings, and electrical outlets.

Refrigerators, clothes washers, clothes dryers, and other appliances comprise about 20% of your home's energy consumption. Replacing your aging appliances with more energy efficient ones can save you money with lower utility bills.

When shopping for new appliances you should consider two costs. The first cost is the purchase price and the second is the cost of operating the appliance over its lifetime. To help you determine the second cost, the federal government requires that most major home appliances (exceptions include dryers, stove ranges and ovens) display the EnergyGuide label. The yellow and black EnergyGuide label gives the estimated energy consumption of the appliance on a scale showing a range for similar models. It also gives an estimated yearly operating cost based on the national average cost of electricity. The EnergyGuide label will help you compare the energy efficiency of different brands and models.

The Energy Star label appears on appliances and home electronics that meet strict energy efficiency criteria established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The labeling program includes most home electronics and appliances except for water heaters, stove ranges, and ovens. The Energy Star website describes qualified products in more than 50 categories. If you are looking to remodel or make home improvements, the Energy Star site provides tips for making your home more energy efficient.

Two appliances I’m hearing a lot about from consumers are new efficient clothes washers and tankless instant hot water heaters. The efficient clothes washers use less water and detergent. The tankless hot water heaters are installed near fixtures or appliances and produce hot water only as needed: No more using energy to keep a big tank of water hot all the time.

Helping your home budget can also help you go greener. Let me know if you have other no or low cost tips that you are using to save money and energy at home.

These are just a few of the many ways you can save money and energy. The following resources have more information on these tips and many more.

No-Cost Low-cost Tips for Saving Money & Energy from the Alliance to Save Energy

More than 100 Ways to Improve Your Electric Bill (pdf) from the Edison Electric Institute

A Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy from the U.S. Department of Energy has lots of tips and information for saving energy and using renewable energy at home, at work, in the community, and while driving.

Energy Savers from the Federal government has links to resources available from Federal agencies.

Energy Savers Tips on Saving Energy & Money at Home can also be downloaded in PDF format.

Saving Starts @ Home from the Federal Trade Commission has tips on how you can save money in every room of your home.

Energy Star is a joint program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy and has information on energy efficient products and practices.

Home Energy Saver is a web-based do-it-yourself energy audit tool that helps you identify ways you can save energy in your home and find the resources to make it happen. It's from the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

WaterSense^SM: Efficiency Made Easy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides tips and information on ways you can conserver water.