Unexpected Ways to Save Money on Energy and Green Your Home!

diagram of house sitting on a tree

Unexpected Ways to Save Money on Energy and Green Your Home!

Saving money on energy is easy! You can start by taking simple steps that can easily become habits to reduce energy waste, green your home, and save money.

Did you know switching to a laptop instead of using a desktop saves over 33% of energy. Plugging devices into one power strip and then turning the power strip off at night could become a positive habit that saves energy and money.

Additionally, it is estimated that 8% of the total energy used in our homes is for air conditioning. Cut back on your cooling costs by using ceiling fans. Ceiling fans use less or equal the electricity than a regular light bulb, and the wind from a fan can make you feel three or four degrees cooler. In the winter, turn fans on the clockwise setting on low speed to help push heat that rises down to your level.

Check Your Lights and Appliances

To make the room brighter with low watt bulbs or lamps on dimmer switches, put lamps in the corners to mirror the light off the connecting walls. This will save energy without compromising your rooms brightness.

Believe it or not, doing the dishes in the dishwasher instead of doing them by hand saves over 66% of hot water. Save energy by decreasing your water heater temperature to 130° F. Top off the savings by using a specially designed “blanket” that will hold the heat in your water heater. You can also use cold water to wash clothes and save $63 a year.

Also keeping your freezer full uses less energy than an empty one. Don’t need all that extra food? Put containers of water in the freezer to take up the empty space and save energy!

Cook Up Some Savings and Employ the “Energy Police”

Grill outdoors in the summer instead of using your oven or stove-top. The extra heat will make your air conditioner run unnecessarily. When using your stove, match your pot size to the correct burner size to use less energy. To take savings even further, use copper-bottomed pots and pans that use energy more efficiently and heat up faster. If you have kids, give them some authority to make sure the lights are turned off, things are unplugged, and that appropriate doors and windows are shut when running air conditioners and heaters. You will be teaching them important lessons about energy saving, and you will be double-checking your own efforts to be a little greener!

References:

https://www.progress-energy.com/carolinas/home/save-energy-money/energy-saving-tips-calculators/100-tips.page

http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=us_energy_homes-basics

http://energyquest.ca.gov/saving_energy/index.html

http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/saving-energy/energy-money-savers/#ixzz2J1qcFKhp