Eight Energy Resolutions for 2008
See what you can accomplish just by "lifting a finger"
The key to a healthy lifestyle is to find a diet and exercise program you can live with and adopt it permanently. The same holds true for an energy efficient lifestyle. Here are eight tips for 2008 that will help you trim your energy use (and bills). Best of all, you’ll barely have to lift a finger to do them…literally.
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
- Unplug your electronics when not in use – that clock on your stereo system can actually use more electricity than the whole system does when you’re playing your music.
- Turn down/up the thermostat 68-70 and 77-79 in summer.
- Open draperies on sunny days and close them again at night (or vice versa in the summer) to harvest (or block) the heat of the sun.
- Turn down the water temp too….120 should do it since many appliances such as dishwashers now include their own temperature controls.
- Change to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) next time you change a bulb and use this calculator to find out how much you can save doing it.
- Change your furnace filter --- Ooops, forgot that since the fall didn’t you, but your filters should be changed every month.
- Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator while you’re thinking of it, to help it work easier and last longer.
Whew! After all that work you deserve a break. Oh, and since you’re already thinking that way, why not hit the shower instead of a bath. You won’t notice the difference physically, but five minute shower using a new “low-flow” showerhead versus a 30 minute bath could save you hundreds of gallons of water, not to mention even more money, every year.
