A Home Energy Checklist To Do Today
Apr 01, 2009As if folks aren’t under enough pressure to keep up with their daily routines of going to work, running errands, keeping up with their kids and family, now they need to be energy efficiency conscious as well?
There are some simple steps that anyone can do to slowly start to become energy conscious without thinking about it. It involves doing baby-steps through simple home maintenance and habits all the way to major home improvements. Not only will you save money in the long run, but you will also make your home and family a healthier place to live and make the planet cleaner.
According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy here are some small steps that you can do today what can lead to big results:
- Turn down the temperature of your hot water heater to the warm setting (120 degrees).
- Check if your hot water heater has an insulating blanket. An insulating blanket will pay for itself in one year or less.
- If you have one of those silent guzzlers, a waterbed, make your bed today. The covers will insulate it and save up to one-third of the energy it uses.
- Start using energy-saving settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers.
- Survey your incandescent lights for opportunities to replace them with compact fluorescents (CFLs). These lamps can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. The best targets are 60-100W bulbs used several hours a day. New CFLs come in many sizes and styles to fit most standard fixtures.
- Check the age and condition of your major appliances, especially the refrigerator. You may want to replace it with a more energy efficient model before it dies.
- Clean or replace furnace, air conditioner and heat-pump filters.