Mar 16, 2011

14 Easy Ways to Decrease Your Energy Bill











7 Free Ways: No excuses here!
  1. Keep your thermostat at 68 in winter and 78 in summer.
  2. Set your hot water heater at 120 degrees: each 10 degree reduction saves you up to 5% on your bill.
  3. Avoid using the ‘heated dry’ cycle on the dishwasher – just let them air dry
  4. Conserve water – wash clothes on cold and shorten your shower: this reduces your bill and your impact on a very limited resource.
  5. Line dry your laundry when the weather is nice.
  6. Use a ceiling fan in the summer and wear an extra layer in the winter.
  7. Unplug your electronics when not in use: anything with a LED light glowing (e.g., cell phone charger, computer monitor, etc.) is drawing power even if it is not ‘on.’
7 Cheap Ways: Small Investment, Big Payoff [Less than $500 total]
  1. Replace your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent. 
  2. Make sure all your windows and doors are well sealed with caulking or or weatherstripping. 
  3. Make sure your plumbing and wiring penetrations are sealed. 
  4. Get your heating and cooling system serviced annually to maintain and monitor efficiency. 
  5. Insulate your hot water heater 
  6. Insulate your air compressor and hot water piping. 
  7. Change your air filters at least every 3 months. 

4 comments:

  1. I guess we're doing good-the only ones we haven't done yet off the list is replacing the light bulbs (my reading lamp came with a CF bulb) with CFs, and the water heater jacket hasn't happened yet..I just caulked around all the windows-every time the heater kicked in you could feel the air come in from around them..two tubes of caulk later, every window is sealed nice and tight..moneys money!

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  2. All good ideas, especially the free ones, and here at Casa Smallville we follow almost all.
    We are even switching from standard hot water heater to tankless.

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  3. Oh ho, something we are learning to do on 15 amps supplied to the 50 amp motor home. hahaha
    But we are not complaining, it runs the fan on the gas heater.
    From over in the Detroit area.

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  4. We've got to get rid of the energy vampires. I think we are well squared away for the rest of the list.

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