How Can My Energy Use Become More Ecologically Responsible?
It takes surprisingly few steps to reduce the costs and resources associated with powering, heating, and cooling your home or business. BASK POWER can work with you to audit your property and note areas that can be improved using simple adjustments or suggest products that may help actualize your ecological wishes.
Use these no-cost ways to save energy, as recommended by the Alliance to Save Energy
- Turn off everything not in use: lights, TVs, computers, etc.
- Check the furnace or air conditioner (AC) filter each month, and clean or replace it as needed. Dirty filters block air flow through your heating and cooling systems, increasing your energy bill and shortening the equipment’ life.
- During hot months, keep window coverings closed on the south, east, and west windows. In winter, let the sun in.
- Activate "sleep" features on computers and office equipment that power down when not in use for a while. Turn off equipment during longer periods of non-use to cut energy costs and improve longevity.
- Dress appropriately for the weather, and set your thermostat to the lowest possible comfortable setting. On winter nights, put an extra blanket on the bed and turn down your thermostat even more.
- In summer, use fans whenever possible instead of AC, and ventilate at night this way when practical. Using fans to supplement AC allows you to raise the thermostat temperature, using less energy. Fans cost less to use than AC.
- Switch to cold water washing of laundry in top loading in top-loading, energy-inefficient washing machines to save energy and up to $63 a year -detergents formulated for cold water get clothes just as clean.
- Lower the temperature on your water heater. It should be set at merely warm, so that a thermometer held under running water reads no more than 120 degrees.
- Only heat or cool the rooms you need -close vents and doors of unused rooms.
Sources:
Alliance to Save Energy, www.ase.org
