Living Green and Saving Energy: How to Barbecue the Energy Hogs in Your Home

Living Green and Saving Energy: How to Barbecue the Energy Hogs in Your Home

Reducing energy usage is a crucial part of creating a greener lifestyle. Since energy costs are rising every year, cutting your energy use will also save you money, and the amount of savings will grow year after year as your utility annually raises the price of power per kilowatt.

If you want to save energy in your home, it pays to focus on the biggest energy users--the energy hogs, in vernacular terminology--for achieving a meaningful reduction in energy usage.

What are those energy hogs?

Here are the three most voracious porkers that are hogging your energy and driving up your electricity bill.

1. Air Conditioning and Heating: The heat and the AC are away the biggest energy drains you have, especially if you have and use air conditioning. Finding ways to reduce their usage will have a large impact on your overall power utilization.

2. Refrigerator: Typically your fridge is the second biggest energy hog in the home, right behind the AC. One of the reasons the refrigerator has such a large impact is that it has to run 24/7 to keep that food from spoiling.

3. Washers and Dryers: The energy impact for washing clothes is far larger than that for dishes. Most of that energy goes toward simply heating the water used rather than for running the washing machine.

By just focusing on how to use only these three appliances more efficiently, you can cut your electric bill in a major way. Here's how.

1. Set your thermostat wisely, according to the season and when you are actually at home. By maintaining the temperature in your home a few degrees warmer in the summer months, you will save you a surprising amount. Keep the thermostat around 80 degrees Fahrenheit if you are at work or will be away from home for an extended period of time (for example, away on a vacation). Even better, consider investing in a programmable thermostat that will make the adjustments for you automatically.

2. Raise the temperature setting in your refrigerator by 1-2 degrees. Your fridge will have to work less hard to maintain that temperature. The ideal temperature is from 37 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are replacing an older refrigerator, always buy an Energy Star rated refrigerator. The new ones are much more energy efficient.

3. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water with a detergent designed to clean well at the lower temperature. Heating the water for washing consumes most of the energy. Most detergent makers have reformulated their products to clean at water temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit), often with the addition of enzymes to improve the cleaning efficiency at the lower water temperature.

These three areas are responsible for most of the energy consumed in your home. Making a few small changes in how you set your thermostat, run your refrigerator, and use your washer will lead to large reductions in your average energy consumption. The changes are easy to do and will save you money as well.

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