Energy Efficiency

The average house creates twice as much greenhouse gases than a typical car does, and there are a lot of simple things that you can do to improve energy conservation at home and on the road.   Improving your home energy usage saves you money, reduces pollution, and helps the environment.  Using energy efficient products, such as Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs, Energy STAR-Rated appliances, and making sure your house is well-insulated can decrease your monthly electric costs.   For example, using Energy STAR appliance can save you up to 30%.  Since the average home in the US spends around $1900-$2100 per year in energy costs, that can add up to $600 or more in savings per year.

At Home:

• Use less hot water- In the shower, when doing laundry, and when washing dishes.
• Turn off appliances when not in use- Televisions, computers (screen saver mode does not save energy), coffee pots, etc.
• Run the A/C unit at a higher setting when you are at work or not in your house.  You can purchase a programmable thermostat for fairly cheap (usually under $30), and you can program the unit to run less when no one is at home, and to kick in more before you come home from work.
• Replace your incandescent light bulbs with Compact Flourescent lights, which use 20-33% less power than traditional light bulbs, but give off the same light.  Also, they last at least 8x longer than traditional lights, which saves you money in the long run.  However, because CFLs contain small amounts of mercury, they should be properly disposed of, and many retailers offer free recycling services for these bulbs.
• Replace older appliances with Energy STAR rated appliances.

In your car:

• Keep your tires properly inflated- this increases your mileage by up to 3.3%
• Keep your car maintained- Use the recommended grade of oil for your car (10W30, 10W40, etc),  getting a tune up, etc, can increase your mileage.
• Change your bad driving habits- Aggressive driving, with fast starts and stops, increases wear and tear on your tires, brakes, engine, and can lower your gas mileage by 33% on the highway.  Slower starts and stops will prevent wasting gas and money.
• Remove excess weight- Too busy to take out those bags of potting soil?  Put them in the garage, as having more weight in your car will reduce your MPG, and is much more noticeable in smaller cars.
• Use cruise control on the highway (as long as the roads aren’t wet!), which keeps you at a constant speed, and increases your mileage as well.