subject: Home Generator - How To Save Money On Your Energy Bill [print this page] Is it just me, or have energy prices just been heading up and up lately? Unfortunately, this results in significant increases in our home energy bills.
Fortunately, you will find a lot of fairly affordable (occasionally free) modifications you can make around the home which will save you cash. I have put together a list of 12 tips that include heating and cooling, lighting, appliances, and home electronics. These areas all tend to be well known energy hogs. Why don't we begin.
Heating and Cooling Ideas:
1. If you have not currently, change to a natural gas water heater (electric water heaters use twice as much energy).
2. Whenever feasible, cool your home naturally. For instance, you can plant shade trees around your house (particularly on the east and west sides) Their protection prevents the sun from beating on your roof and siding throughout the summer, which can naturally keep your home 4 degrees cooler. (Trees also assist insulate your home against cold winds in the winter.)
3. Seal your house to protect against heat loss in cold weather. Seal the ductwork, close the fireplace damper when it is not being used, and put in a timer on the bathroom exhaust fan.
Money-saving Lighting Ideas:
1. Use dimmers on all of your bulbs, and only keep lights as bright as required for your work. Instead of switching on big watt-sucking overhead lights, make use of task lighting when suitable.
2. Use timers and motion- or heat-sensing lights outdoors.
3. Benefit from the natural light from outside. Consider skylights and well-placed mirrors, which can reflect more light into a room, thus reducing energy expenses.
Home Electronics Energy-saving Tips:
1. Except if you really require 10 clocks glowing greenly at you day and night, unplug TVs, DVD players, stereos, etc. when not being used (you can plug them into a power strip with an on/off switch to make this easy) 60-80% of the electricity used by these devices is sucked down when they're idle.
2. Unplug chargers when you are not actively charging your cell phone, iPod, battery charger, etc. Why? Because as long as the plugs are inserted into an outlet, they're sucking electrical power.
3. Unplug or turn off your computer when it's not being used. And in case you fail to remember, set the system to lapse into sleep mode following a certain amount of idle time (sleep mode takes in 60-80% less energy than full-power mode)
Tips for Saving Energy with Appliances
1. If your refrigerator was made prior to 1993, replace it. It could be drawing down $140 a year in electricity compared to newer models, which require considerably less. Today's Energy Star-rated refrigerators just use about $20 of energy annually.
2. Do all of your laundry on the same day, and dry the loads back-to-back. This makes use of residual dryer heat.
3. If you have a top-loading washing machine, replace it with a front-loading model. These generally make use of 50% less energy and 1/3 less water.
That is all the advice for this article. Implement these simple energy-saving tips, and you'll soon be looking at smaller bills.
