10 Ways to Be More Energy Efficient and Green in 2008
“Going green” and “reducing your carbon footprint” are all the rage, but these trendy concepts are nothing new for the Alliance to Save Energy. You can’t be green without minimizing your energy use.Energy efficiency has always been, and remains the quickest, most cost-effective way to use less energy and reduce the amount of pollution you produce.
It’s just a matter of taking simple steps and employing today’s widely available, easy-to-use energy-efficient technologies. You’ll not only ease the strain of today’s high energy prices on your household budget, but you’ll also shrink the greenhouse gases and other global warming pollutants you release into the atmosphere.
Here are the Alliance to Save Energy’s Top 10 Ways to be More Energy Efficient and Green in 2008:
10) Remember when your mom would ask, “Do you think we own stock in the electric company?!” Take her sage advice and turn off lights, computers, TVs, stereos, etc. when you are done using them.
9) Green means clean. Replace or clean HVAC filters regularly, whether you have a central heating and/or cooling system or window air conditioners.
8) Don’t let standby power suck your wallet dry. Instead, look for the ENERGY STAR label on electronics, which use less electricity in the “off” mode.
7) Keep on rolling down the highway. Keep your tires properly inflated to improve gas mileage by about 3.3%. You could save more than 20 gallons of gasoline per year, which amounts to about $60 per car annually.Extend tire life and prevent more than 390 pounds of CO2 production per vehicle yearly.
6) Keep your car in good working order. Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test, can improve gas mileage by an average of 4%. That amounts to nearly 25 gallons of gasoline per year, or savings of about $80 per vehicle per year.Save nearly 500 pounds of C02 per vehicle.
5) Generate light, not heat, with ENERGY STAR qualified lighting such as compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Energy-efficient lighting products use 3/4 less energy than standard incandescent lighting, and can last up to 10 times longer. Despite their higher up-front cost, they yield lifetime savings of up to $50 per bulb. Another benefit of CFLs is that they generate 70% less heat than incandescent bulbs, so they don’t add to the summer heating load that your AC needs to cool down.
4) Don’t waste money and energy by heating or cooling an empty house. When installed and properly programmed to follow your daily and weekly patterns, a programmable thermostat can cut heating and cooling costs by about 10%. That is enough, in some cases, to pay for the device within one season and then also yield home energy savings of about $150 a year. When the thermostat automatically adjusts the temperature, you are able to come home to a comfortable house, while not wasting money or causing more unnecessary pollution.
3) Reach for the stars. ENERGY STAR qualified products can cut related electricity costs by up to 30%. More than 50 categories of products are now labeled with this government “seal of approval” for energy efficiency. In addition to electronics and lighting, they also include appliances, HVAC systems, windows, and more. Visit more information.
2) Don’t waste money and energy heating and cooling the great outdoors, either! Make sure you have the proper amount of insulation for your climate, and seal leaks around doors and windows to cut your heating and cooling bills by up to 20%. With home energy costs estimated at $2,200 for the average U.S. household in 2008, and just over half of that going for heating and cooling, those savings can amount to about $225.
1) Slow down and save! Each 5 miles per hour you drive over 60 mph costs you about 20 cents more per gallon of gasoline. Aggressive driving habits such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33% at highway speeds and 5% around town. Driving sensibly can save up to 200 gallons of gasoline per year at highway speeds, or about $600 per carwith gasoline prices at $3/gallon. You will also help prevent up to 4,000 pounds of CO2 per car.
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