Save Energy and Save Money
By Making Your Home More Efficient

The desire to save energy has never been more important than it is right now. Unpredictable fuel costs, the need to save money and the impact on our limited resources all combine in a perfect storm to to make the need for saving energy greater than it ever has been.

Years ago the average person had no idea how much their squandering of energy and natural resources was costing them financially.

They also had no idea how bad it was for the environment. They weren't even necessarily aware that they were being wasteful by doing the things that they were doing.

Today we know the importance of conservation and how it's beneficial to our natural surroundings. We also know that by being aware, conscious and mindful of the energy we use, we can also save a great deal of money each month.

How can you do that? Let's take a look at 5 simple ways.

Turn Off (Or Down) The Lights

This doesn't mean that you have to spend the rest of your days in the dark. It simply means using only the lights that are necessary for the task at hand. If you are leaving a room and no one else is in the room, turn off the lights until they are needed again.

You can also install occupancy sensors and dimmer switches in your home to save energy. Dimmer switches let you turn down the lights in a room to create the perfect mood for your activity and to use less power to light the room.

Occupancy sensors are great for homes where people constantly forget to turn lights off. They can be installed in a simple switch box on the wall and will automatically turn on the lights upon someone entering the room, and then automatically turn them off when the room's occupants leave.

This may sound almost too simple or perhaps inconsequential relative to energy savings but it all adds up over time. Yes, there are tradeoffs regarding turning off the lights and how that on/off cycling impacts how often you have to buy new bulbs (you can read more about that at this U.S. Department of Energy website). But if you're practical about it, you will save.




Get Control Of The Thermostat

Making adjustments of just a few degrees up in the summer and down in the winter will save energy and save money on your heating and cooling bills.

In many homes the thermostat is set to seventy degrees or so, all day long even when all of the residents are out of the home at work or school. Add sleep time to that and you could be looking at perhaps 12 to 16 hours of unnecessary heating and cooling.

That's not to say that you have to turn your heat or air conditioning off while everyone is out of the house, but minor adjustments of five to ten degrees while the house is empty or everyone is asleep can save a tremendous amount of energy.

One of the easiest ways to "keep tabs" on your home's heating and cooling is to use a programmable thermostat. These units can be had for relatively little cost and are easily installed. Basic models cost about $20 while some high-end thermostats can be $200 to $300. But for simple and effective models, you can easily get away with one for less than $50 like the Lux product shown in the photo.

Look for a thermostat that has flexible programming capability, like several settings per day, day-by-day and weekend settings. Programming one of these thermostats is simple and once you set it, you can forget it.

Set your thermostat so that the temperature is 10 degrees cooler or warmer, appropriate for the time of year, when you're at work or sleeping. It will automatically bring your house back to a comfortable temperature before you get up in the morning and by the time you come home from work.




Shut Off The Water

If you leave the water running while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes you could potentially be wasting thousands of gallons of water per year. This wastes not only the water that's just running down the drain but the energy it took to clean and supply the water to your home.

Most municipalities charge you for the water you use, unless you get your water from a well. Then there's the money you pay to heat your water. So you've paid to get the water and paid some more to heat it. If you think about it, your water use is another easy way to cut back on energy consumption and what it costs you.

Then of course, there's the shower. We all like that nice, long, hot shower now and then. But be realistic. Long showers and large families (especially those with teenagers) can run a hot water heater dry. Need some help with motivation? Use a shower timer. These timers can be had for $5 to $15 and are impervious to water so you can put them right in the shower. If a simple timer isn't sufficient, there are devices that actually limit the water flow after a specified amount of time.




Turn Down The Water Heater

Coming in close behind your home's heating system in energy consumption is the hot water heater. No one wants a cold shower in the morning but then again the water doesn't need to be as hot as the water heater is trying to make it.

Turn down your water heater temperature 10 degrees-F and you could save approximately 3%-5% on your energy costs according to the U.S. Department of Energy. And you may not even notice a difference. Why? Because in most cases, the hot water is too hot for general use. When was the last time you took a shower with just the hot water cranked up? You want hot water -- not scalding water.




Insulate Your Water Heater

Give your water heating bills the double whammy by insulating the water heater. If your current heater is new and/or already has a high insulation value of at least R-24 you're OK as-is. However if it's lower than that, you can probably benefit by installing an insulation blanket around the heater (if the unit feels warm to the touch, it probably needs insulation).

Electric water heaters are easier to insulate by yourself and insulation jackets can be found at home improvement centers. Gas water heaters however are trickier when it comes to installing an insulation blanket and it may be best to have a heating and plumbing contractor do the work.

More information about insulating both types of hot water heaters can be found at this link of the U.S. Department of Energy's website.

These few simple acts have the potential to save you quite a bit of money on your energy bill while helping conserve the planet's precious natural resources. You're not limited to these ideas for saving energy however. There's more that you can do if you just think a bit about how you use your home's resources like water and energy on a day to day basis.

These may seem like minor things, but the truth is, they all add up.

Robert Levesque
Publisher/Editor

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