So you want to reduce the energy consumption in your house, but you want to make as few changes to your lifestyle as possible? If so, you’re at the right place. Whether you want to help your family budget or want to lessen your impact on the environment, there are quite a few things you can do to reduce your power needs.
First of all, keep your heating a cooling systems in top condition. Replace the outdated furnace or fans immediately! Ineffective air conditioning systems are among the prime energy hogs. Clean them and perform regular maintenance to make sure they work at their top efficiency.
When you’re done with the heating and air conditioning, the next step is to make sure your house doesn’t have any leaks and drafts. Especially, make sure that your storm windows are in good condition. Use them to reduce the temperature loss. Also, make sure that your doors and windows close tightly. They are major sources of energy loss.
Your thermostat is the brain of your whole energy-saving operation. Make sure it is a good one and that its sensors are installed properly. It is also a good idea to play with its settings a bit - usually keeping your house a bit warmer during hot months and cooler during the winter is good both for your health and energy bills.
Consider purchasing new Energy Star-certified appliances instead of your old ones. Old fridges or washers may use even twice as much energy as newer, more energy-efficient models. In most cases new appliances pay off in a few years’ time at most. One more thing: be responsible and try to give your old stuff to some recycling center instead of throwing it away.
When you do the laundry, make sure that you use cold water whenever possible. This will reduce the energy consumption by 90%. Also, avoid using your dryer - clothesline or racks can do the same for free.
If you have energy-efficient appliances, make sure that you enabled all energy-saving features. This is especially important in case of electronic equipment where the Energy Star options must be turned on by a user.
Change your old bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent models. They use even four times as little energy as older models. They also last much longer so despite their higher per-item price, they pay off pretty soon. The only drawback is that you should dispose them appropriately - fluorescents contain a bit of mercury to we can’t just toss them to our trashcan.