Green Saves Green Day 2
tiful out this morning. After a week of muggy, rainy, gray days, fall has emerged clear and crisp. The sun is shining, the wind is gently blowing leaves that are beginning to turn, and I'm considering actually putting on shoes instead of sandals. It's one of those days you don't need to worry about the thermostat. It's just off. But when that thermostat is turned on it's doing more than just regulating the temperature in your home - it's sucking up energy and it's sucking up your money. Chances are it's also depleting some of the world's natural resources, too.
It makes sense to use energy in your home as efficiently as possible. But what does that mean? First of all, it would be good to do an energy audit on your home. I did a post on energy audits a while back. Basically, an energy audit is a process in which you yourself or a professional auditor takes a look at all of the energy used in the home to find out if energy is being used efficiently. To find out more, you can go to my past post, here.
Whether you choose to do an energy audit or not, there are several simple changes you can make to save energy and save money.
- Program your programmable thermostat. It seems simple but many people don't take the time to read the instructions with their programmable thermostat and just adjust it manually. By programming your thermostat you can keep an even temperature in your home and your heating/cooling system will not have to work overtime adjusting up and down.
- Take advantage of your ceiling fans. Did you know that by properly rotating and using your ceiling fans when you have on the heater, you can heat your home more efficiently? I'm not sure how this works, but my husband does. If you want to learn a little more about it, Home Depot has a free podcast that explains it. Actually, that link will take you to several of their podcasts that give advice on energy efficiency.
- Turn of lights when you leave the room. I grew up hearing my dad say, almost daily, "This house is lit up like a Christmas tree." I never understood the big deal. I do now. My dad wasn't particularly concerned about energy conservation. He was concerned about his electric bill. Turning off lights, as well as turning off computers, tv's and stereos when not in use, can save a lot of money.
- In the kitchen - use the toaster oven instead of the big oven if you can, use the microwave to heat water for a cup of tea instead of heating the tea kettle on the stove, remove on light bulb from your overhead fixture if it has several - these are all little things that add up.
These are just a few ideas. I could go on, but I think this post is long enough. The point is, you can be both green and save some money.
Don't forget: It's the Little Thinks has joined me this month for Green Saves Green. Check out her post today on Don't Buy That.
1 comment:
We seem to be in sync so far. My post today is about not buying what you don't need and that includes energy. I was able to link right to you on that matter.
Post a Comment