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Great Ideas for Your Home
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A few tips for your quest to save money and energy
The key to achieving a comfortable home, to saving energy and to
finding peace of mind can be found through a whole-house energy
efficiency plan. Take into account everything that uses energy. Here
are a few tips that may help as you begin your quest for saving money
and saving energy.
- Turn down the water heater thermostat. Most people have their water
heaters turned up too high (160 degrees). For gas water heaters, 120
degrees is high enough to meet your hot water needs.
- Use low wattage task lighting. Where illumination is needed only for
a small area, such as a favorite reading chair, place a reading lamp
nearby. Replace frequently used high wattage bulbs with compact
fluorescent light bulbs that last 10 times as long as incandescent
bulbs.
- Install a low-flow showerhead. You can save close to 10 gallons
during a five-minute shower.
- Caulk, weather-strip, and foam to seal air leaks.
- Close your fireplace damper when it is not in use. If you rarely or
never use your fireplace, consider covering the opening with cardboard
or some other type of material to decrease loss of conditioned air.
- Repair or replace windows. When repairing windows, don't seal cracks
in the glass, replace the whole pane. Make sure your windows shut tight
and fit properly.
- Adequate insulation in walls, attics and floors is a must. Too often
existing homes have little or no insulation in the exterior walls and
attics. Attic insulation should be an R-38 or greater level for our
cold climates. With typical 2x4 construction you should have at least
an R-11 in your walls.
- Use appliances wisely. Wash only full loads of clothes and dishes.
Keep your freezer full, and vacuum the coils on your refrigerator every
three months.
- New homes conserve energy and generate less air pollutants. Check
into the benefits of an Energy Star home. These government certified
homes use less energy for heating and cooling, as well as keeping out
excessive noise. For more information about Energy Star qualified
homes, visit www.energystar.gov.
(Our thanks to Energy Rated Homes of Utah for information used in this
article.)
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