1.       Turn off the lights when you leave a room.

2.       Install a motion / occupancy sensor in a room that you go in and out of frequently at night.

3.       Switch to LED night lights, they use a fraction of the energy that standard night lights do.

4.       Unplug your alarm clock and keep your cell phone next to your bed at night.

5.       Turn off the, lights and go to bed early, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

6.       Turn off the TV and read a book instead.

7.       Use a clothes dryer heat saver in the winter.

8.       Line dry your laundry.

9.       Plug all of your electronics: TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, computer, printer, cable router, network router into a power strip and turn the power strip off at night.

10.    Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL’s (compact fluorescent lamps.)

11.     Turn down your thermostat in the winter.

12.     Turn up your thermostat in the summer.

13.     Clean the condensing coil of your refrigerator.

14.     Buy an Energy Star refrigerator.

15.     Use a laptop instead of a desktop computer.

16.     Turn off your computer when you are not using it.

17.     Turn off your printer except when you are using it.

18.     Turn off your monitor too.

19.     Same goes for your speakers.

20.     Buy a new computer since they use a lot less electricity than older ones.

21.     Same goes for flat screen monitors vs. CRT monitors.

22.     Upgrade to Windows Vista or 7, they have a “Sleep” function.  Oh, yeah – Use it.

23.     Allow food to cool to room temperature before you put them in the refrigerator.

24.     Keep a pitcher of your favorite beverage in the refrigerator instead of using ice.  It takes more energy to freeze water than to just keep it cool.

25.     Insulate your attic and walls to the proper level.

26.     Insulate the extra refrigerator or freezer in your garage or basement.

27.     Crank the thermostat down another 2 to 4 degrees at night and turn on an electric blanket.  Turn it on just long enough to warm up your bed or at least keep it on the low setting.

28.     Move your kids into one bedroom in the winter and close off the registers in the empty ones.

29.     Let your furry friends sleep on your bed in the winter.  They can sure help to keep you nice and toasty warm.

30.     Get rid of grandma’s refrigerator or freezer that you have in the basement or garage.

31.     Install a programmable thermostat – lower heating bills = lower electrical bills.

32.     Buy and use a space heater or two and heat up only rooms that you use while keeping the rest of the house at a lower temperature.

33.     Bundle up and turn down the thermostat.

34.     Snuggle under a blanket with a friend while you watch TV.

35.     Use timers to turn lights on and off when you are not at home.

36.     Use task lighting instead of lighting up the entire room.

37.     Watch your favorite programs on your laptop instead of the TV.

38.     Go solar to heat your water.

39.     Listen to your MP3 player instead of cranking up the stereo.

40.     Use window fans on cool nights instead of your air conditioner.

41.     When you remodel, avoid carpeting, you can vacuum less often with hard floors.

42.     Replace your air conditioner with one that is Energy Star rated.

43.     Move to a smaller house or apartment.

44.     Seal up your windows with insulating window film.

45.     Install a radiant barrier in your attic.

46.     Replace furnace filters when needed, this will help your furnace run more efficiently.

47.     Upgrade your furnace with one with a higher efficiency.

48.     Eat it raw or cold: veggies, bread (instead of toast), sandwiches (cheese vs. grilled cheese), and milk for example.

49.     Cook with a sun oven.

50.     Dine by candle light.

51.     Get a four poster bed and hang blankets over the top and sides – then you can turn the thermostat down even more at night.

52.     Weatherize your house, seal all of those cracks, gaps and holes

53.      Customize your refrigerator and wrap it with 1 ½” of rigid insulation and any number of finishes: painted or stained wood veneer, chalk board, galvanized steel, vinyl tile, or cork tile.

54.     Teach your kids not to stand with the refrigerator door open.

55.     Practice what you preach.

56.     Wash your hands in cold water.

57.     Install energy saving heat reflective film on all your windows.

58.     Move your refrigerator to an unheated porch, garage or breezeway in the cooler months.

59.     Use an unheated vestibule, garage or enclosed porch to enter and exit your house.  This will prevent cold blasts of air from invading your house every time you go in or out.

60.     Add a dog door in above mentioned vestibule, this too will reduce the cold blasts.

61.     Install solar powered lights at your patio, deck and/or garden.

62.     Open up the curtains in the winter and on the north side of your house to let the sun in.

63.     Install a solar tube type skylight and turn off the lights in that room even at night.

64.     Set solar powered lanterns outside during the day and bring them inside at night for a taste of living off the grid.

65.     Install LED lamps in your recessed cans.  They use even less energy than CFL’s.

66.     Don’t leave the television on for your dog during the day.  Let them read the paper if they need to catch up on the news.

67.     Install a whole house fan and use it instead of your air conditioner.

68.     Use an antique sewing machine with a foot pedal.

69.     Plug power strips into timers so you don’t need to remember to turn them off.

70.     Can the jam, instead of freezing it.  This goes for the extra produce from your garden too.

71.     Generate your own electricity with a wind turbine.

72.     Install a solar air heater, or two.

73.     Install SolarChoice Blinds: a passive solar heater in the guise of vertical blinds.

74.     Buy an Energy Star front loading washing machine.

75.     Wear your clothes more than once between washes.

76.     Only do full loads of laundry.

77.     Wash your clothes in cold water, or at least warm instead of hot.

78.     Fill up your dishwasher before you run it.

79.     Use the energy saver setting on your dishwasher.

80.     Switch to an Energy Star dishwasher.

81.     Use a small plate instead of a large one whenever possible, to cut down on dishwasher loads.

82.     Use one glass all day for your drinking water and it will take longer to fill up your dishwasher.

83.     Try to use only one plate or bowl per person for each meal, this will lead to fewer dishwasher loads.

84.     Serve food in the pots that you cooked the food in and it will take longer to fill the dishwasher.

85.     Skip taking a shower once in a while.

86.      Install an instant hot water heater – hot water will be at the tap sooner.

87.     Insulate your hot water pipes.

88.      Skip shaving once in a while.

89.     Switch to low flow showerheads.

90.     Put the scraps from your plates in to a worm bin instead of down the disposal.

91.     Take shorter showers – keep them to five minutes or less.

92.     Plant a tree or more to shade your house.

93.     When you take a shower turn off the water while you lather and wash.

94.     Two young kids in the same tub = ten to twenty gallons of water saved.

95.     Get your kids involved and teach them to turn the lights off when they leave the room (for instance).

96.     Adjust your water softener so that it regenerates only as necessary.

97.     Lightly steam your vegetables instead of boiling them to death.

98.     Take tandem showers: as soon as one person is done the next hops in.

99.     Give your dog a bath in the water your kids just bathed in.

100.   Jump in the shower before the water gets warm and enjoy a refreshing start to your day.

101.   Trade your furnace in for a small fire breathing dragon.  This may be difficult as they are uncommonly rare.

Have fun and start saving (more)!

CFL Bulbs

Energy Star rated CFL bulbs are 75% more efficient than standard incandescent lights. They use less energy and burn 10 times as long as traditional bulbs, advantages from economical and environmental perspectives.

One drawback to CFLs is that fluorescent light shines a different color than most people are used to, although the industry has made great strides in addressing this issue over the past few years. Newer CFL bulbs fall into a light spectrum much closer to incandescents than previous versions of the bulb, and also offer light spectrum choices such as ‘daylight’ and cool, white light. The main problem with CFLs is that they contain mercury, which is considered hazardous waste. It can be a health concern if the bulb is broken open, and requires users to dispose of the bulbs at city or county hazardous waste facilities rather than curbside trash.

As with many of the newer and more efficient technologies on the market these days, CFLs have a higher cost than traditional light bulbs. They cost on average $1 more per bulb. While their much longer lifespan makes the investment worth it, the additional upfront cost is a deterrent to buyers. The cost of CFL bulbs should continue to drop as technology improves and the market grows.

LED Bulbs

An even newer and more promising replacement offering for incandescent bulbs is LED lights. LEDs are in a solid state, which means they don’t require a filament to burn, and are able to produce light using small amounts of energy with high efficiency. The newest generation of bulbs has an operating life of 40,000 hours.

As with CFLs, LEDs shed a different light than their yellow hued counterparts, incandescent bulbs. They are also much dimmer than other bulbs, because the individual LEDs are concentrated at the top of the bulb and because they are so much cooler. While the newest bulbs are great for headlamps, night lights, and accent lighting, their use as overhead lighting hasn’t been perfected yet.

Recent breakthroughs in technology, including Sharp’s new nine-bulb LED series with adjustable color tone, show us the future of light bulbs that aren’t quite ready for the market. Sharp’s cutting edge bulb costs $82, and cheaper LEDs still run in the $30+ range. As technology improves for LEDs, their costs will go down and they’ll likely replace CFLs as the cleanest, most efficient light bulb available to households.

This article provided courtesty of HowToSaveElectricity.net

One of the main stumbling blocks to the sustainability movement has been that many people just don’t want to change the way they do things or what they buy. Some don’t like the color of CFL’s, others are concerned about the mercury they contain.  LED’s are very efficient, but they are very expensive and it’s hard to find ones to replace 75 and 100-watt bulbs.  For those that have not made the switch to CFL’s or LED’s there may be some help.

Scientists at the University of Rochester have learned how to alter the filament using an ultra-brief pulse from an ultra-intense laser and make them much more efficient.  So far they have been able to produce a bulb that produces as much light as a 100-watt but uses less than 60 watts.  Furthermore, they have been able to effect the color of the light that the fillaments emit.  Hopefully this technology will soon be further developed and incoporated into mass production.  This way, more and more people will be encouraged to save energy and money.

In short: More efficient incandescent bulbs = a great step in the right direction.

Dan Bossenbroek

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