No-cost ways to save energy

Lighting

Always turn off the lights when you leave the room.

Air Conditioning

• The temperature setting you choose plays a major role in how much energy you will use each month. The generally recommended temperature for summer is 78° F to 80° F and 68° F to 70° F for winter months. Raising the temperature in summer or lowering it in winter can help you save even more. Adjusting the temperature one degree per week can help you gradually add or subtract a few degrees comfortably and enjoy greater savings on your electric bill. Check out the savings at various thermostat settings. Turning your air conditioner off in warmer months when no one is home will add up to significant cost savings and energy savings.
• Turning your heat down to 55° F in colder months when no one is home will save lots of electricity and money while protecting your pipes from freezing.
• When returning to a warm house in the summer set the thermostat to the temperature at which you want the room to be cooled. The room won’t cool off any faster if you set the thermostat at a lower temperature. Air conditioners are either on or off. Setting the thermostat lower than you need can waste energy by overshooting the desired temperature. The same principle applies to heating in winter.
• Close the vents to unused rooms in your home and close the door so you don’t waste energy cooling or heating those rooms.

Laundry

• About 90 percent of the energy used for washing clothes goes to heating the water. Washing your clothes in warm water instead of hot will cut energy use by as much as 45 percent while washing in cold water can save as much as 90 percent. Simply switching to cold instead of hot water in the wash cycle can add up to significant savings per year.
• Always use cold water for the rinse cycle. Your clothes don’t get any cleaner using warm or hot water in the rinse cycle.
• Wash only full loads.
• Use the lowest water level required to clean your clothes.
• One of the biggest ways to save energy with your clothes dryer is to use a clothesline instead of the dryer to dry your clothes whenever possible.
• Clean the lint filter after every load. Your dryer has to work harder and longer to push air through a full lint screen.
• If you use dryer softening sheets, they can cause a waxy build-up that isn’t always easily seen, but it’s there. Simply wash the lint filter with warm, soapy water occasionally to keep your dryer working optimally. A toothbrush or other soft-bristle brush also can be used to clean the filter. These cleanings can extend the life of your dryer by not forcing it to work so hard.
• Dry full loads.
• Dry multiple loads one right after the other to make use of the heat existing from the previous load.
• Dry towels and heavier cottons in a separate load from lighter-weight clothes.
• Don’t over-dry your clothes. Make use of the moisture sensor if your machine has one.
• If your clothes have been over-dried and become wrinkled, you can throw a wet towel in and re-run them instead of re-washing and re-drying.
• If your machine has a moisture sensor, clean it occasionally to keep the waxy build-up from dryer softening sheets from impeding the sensor’s ability to detect moisture.
• Close your laundry room door when drying clothes during the summer and open it during the winter. This keeps the dryer from heating the whole home during the summer which would cause the air-conditioner to run more, and during the winter allows the heat from the dryer to help heat your home.

Kitchen

• Scrape food from dishes instead of rinsing before loading the dishwasher saves water.
• Always run a full load of dishes and use the shortest cycle necessary to get them clean.
• Cancel the drying cycle and allow dishes to air dry.
• Using a crockpot or microwave can cut your energy usage for cooking by as much as half.
• When using a regular oven, open the door only when necessary. Opening the oven door lets heat escape, reducing the temperature. Check your food without opening the door if your oven has a glass door and internal light.
• Keep the kitchen door closed when cooking to prevent the kitchen from heating up the rest of your home, causing the air conditioner to have to work harder.
• Use the stove exhaust fan to help draw the excess heat out of the kitchen.
• If your kitchen has windows you can open them to let the hot air out. This is most effective when the kitchen door is closed and you are running a ceiling fan. Find out how ceiling fans keep you cooler, and discover other ways to save energy with windows.
• Placing your refrigerator and freezer out of direct sunlight in an air-conditioned area instead of the garage and keeping it away from an outside door or other appliances that heat – such as a stove – will reduce the amount of time the unit has to run to keep food cold.
• Check the gasket that creates a seal around the door. If it doesn’t seal completely, cold air is escaping and the motor is working harder.
• Keep the doors closed as much as possible.
• Remove and return as much food at one time as possible.
• Leave space for air circulation between items.
• Allow hot foods to cool before placing them in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator instead of on the counter so they will help cool the refrigerator as they thaw.
• Set the temperature between 38° F and 42° F in the refrigerator and 0° F in the freezer.
• Keep your freezer two-thirds to three-fourths full for more efficient operation. You can use bottles of water to help fill the empty space.
• Don’t allow frost to exceed one-quarter inch for manual defrost.
• Clean the condenser coils at least twice a year.

Electronics

• Avoid “phantom” loads by unplugging appliances when not in use. You also can plug appliances into a power strip and use the switch on the strip to cut all power to the appliances. Many electrical appliances continue to draw a small amount of power even when they are switched off. While the individual amount per appliance is small, when all the appliances are combined “phantom” loads can account for a large percentage of the electricity used to power home electronics.
• Unplug battery chargers once the batteries are fully charged or when the charger is not being used. This includes chargers for cell phones, cameras, MP3 players, etc.
• Turn off the TV when no one is watching. Leaving the TV on as “background noise” is an easy habit to get into. While TVs still consume power while they are off, it’s a very small percentage of what they use when they are on.
• Turn down the backlight on your LCD TV. Many LCDs allow you to adjust the intensity of the backlight in your TV which will make the TV less bright and lower energy consumption.
• Turn on the power-saver mode if your TV has one. The amount of energy savings will vary drastically depending on the brand and model.
• Watch TV together. A family of four watching one TV uses a quarter of the energy used by four people watching four separate TVs.
• Putting your computer to sleep, or turning it off when not in use, is the best way to save energy with any computer you use.
• Set the power settings on your computer to automatically go to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity. The sleep mode typically uses 15 watts or less.
• Don’t be fooled by a screensaver. Screensavers with animations or images on the screen do not save energy. Only putting the computer in sleep mode will save energy.
• Turn off the computer, monitor, printer and other peripherals when you are finished using them for the day. Sleep mode will save you the time it takes to boot the computer after short intervals of inactivity and typically uses 15 watts or less.
• Plugging your computer and all peripherals into a power strip allows you to turn them all off at once using the switch on the power strip to avoid “phantom” load. Phantom load refers to the small amount of power used by most electrical appliances when they are turned off, but still plugged in.
  

Bathroom

• A leaking hot water faucet will waste electricity because your water heater is running continuously to keep heating the water that is leaking.
• A five-minute shower using a flow restrictor in the shower head uses less water and energy than a bath.
• To save energy, do not set water heaters above 140° F.
• Flushing two to three gallons of water from your electric water heater annually will extend the life of the unit and provide greater efficiency.
• Many modern water heaters have a vacation setting which stops heating the water when you will be away for a period of time.

Windows

Close blinds and curtains during the day in summer will keep your room cooler so your AC will work less to keep you comfortable. Direct sunlight can raise the temperature of a room by 10 degrees to 20 degrees. Closing blinds and curtains at night during the winter will help retain the heat in the room. Opening the blinds and curtains during the day in winter will help heat the room. Curtains or drapes block the heat and sun more effectively than blinds.