Going green benefits your home and your health, as well as leaving a minimal impact on the environment. Change some small things in the home to save on your energy costs. Read this for quick green energy tips you can implement at home.
Do you live on a farm? If you have a farm or know the owner of a farm, you may be able to rent some land to a utility company for installing a wind turbine. The turbine will provide free energy to you and close neighbors, and won’t take up much space.
Replace and clean furnace filters yearly, and check them monthly. Warm-air registers should also have filters installed on them. This reduces debris and small toys from falling into the ducts, which will make them less efficient.
Use cold water for laundry, whenever you can. Almost 90% of the power you use to do laundry is simply used to heat the water. Washing your clothing in cold water will get them just as clean as washing them in hot water if you have a good laundry detergent. Additionally, do not run the washer until it is full so as to maximize your energy use.
If you prefer to use your dishwasher to wash your dishes, only run it when it is full to capacity. The dishwasher uses the same energy when full that it uses when empty, but you’ll have to run it less often. When the dishwasher is used, it is also important to use the main energy-saving feature, which air-dries the dishes.
A green tankless model of water heater can replace a regular tank styled water heater. Although they still use gas or electricity, they only heat on demand rather than maintaining an entire tank of hot water at all times. You can purchase tankless heaters that supply the whole house, or ones that supply just one faucet.
Degrees Warmer
One of the simplest ways that you can go green is by dressing warmly. Even just a lightweight sweater keeps you two degrees warmer, and a heavyweight sweater will keep you four degrees warmer. You don’t need to be cold at home, get yourself some nice warm clothes you can use in your house today!
Choose to get most of your correspondence via email. In other words, choose paperless options anytime you can. This kills two birds with one stone: you save energy and encourage businesses with whom you correspond to do so, as well. In addition, it also protects the environment.
Monitor your electricity consumption watt by watt. A gadget like Watt Minder or Kill-A-Watt will help you discover which appliances are your prime energy consumers. You can plug in various devices into these devices and see how much energy that item uses for periods of time including a hour, month, and even a year. This way, you will know how much that appliance costs you, and you can adjust your usage or settings accordingly.
There is a lot you can do if you want to save energy. Many of these options will not cost you money, but will instead save you money, like cleaning your furnace filter monthly and turning down your thermostat when you are leaving your home. Setting your water heater to 120 F will also be an energy saver. No change is too small.
Energy Star
If you’re in the market for new appliances, make sure they have a high Energy Star rating. This is your guarantee that your new appliances will use less energy, and therefore cost you less to run. For your refrigerator/freezer, Energy star appliances promise to cut energy usage by 20%, and you will see 40% and 50% energy usage, respectively, in Energy Star dishwashers and washing machines.
To save energy during cooking, use your microwave whenever it’s feasible. When cooking on, or within, the stove, a lot of energy is used. By using the microwave, you are cutting down the amount of energy you use a great deal.
Consider more efficient home appliances, such as water-saving toilets. You can save a lot of water from being flushed away if you upgrade to an energy efficient model. Five gallons is the typical amount used by older models, while low-flow toilets consume about 1.6 gallons per flush.
Paying a little more for electronics and appliances that use less energy will pay you back over time. Green technologies cost a little more initially, but you will save money on your utility bills, making them a wise investment. A bonus is that you will be helping to protect the environment.
If you want to transform your home into a “green home,” the iconic way to do this is by installing solar panels. While you do make a large investment when you begin, the government offers grants to help you offset the costs, and you’ll make the money back in utility bill reduction or selling the extra energy you create back to the grid. After the panels are installed, solar power is free and excess can often be sold to supplant the grid.
Heat each individual room separately to save energy and money on your heat bill. You can do this my getting a main board and a heating solution that will let you choose a certain temperature for each area. This is great if your home is big.
Being aware of the amount of lights that are used in the home can make a difference when embracing green energy. In months that are brighter, leave lights off until a specific time of day. Try installing timers and dimmers to control your light usage so that you don’t use lights unnecessarily or turn on brighter lights than you need.
As said before, using green energy does not have to be time consuming or expensive. Just making a few small changes in your home can save you on energy costs. If you utilize these tips in the article, you will be helping to save the environment for future generations. Pass the tips onto your friends as well.
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