The largest energy users in your home are your heating and cooling systems. Next comes your water heater. So if you are serious about saving energy, start there. The following tips will help you get the most value from every penny. But remember, to really save, your home must be well insulated. You can cut your heating and cooling costs by as much as one third by plugging leaks, installing storm windows and doors, fireplace dampers, attic ventilation, adequate insulation, sealed and insulated duct work, caulking and weather stripping.

Take this home energy tour to see how little changes can make a difference.

Heating Tips | Air Conditioning Tips | Heat Pump Tips | Water Heating Tips | Energy-Saving Tips for the Kitchen

Energy-Saving Tips for the Laundry | General Appliance Tips | Energy Saving Tips for Lighting | Vacation Checklist of Energy Savings

 

HEATING TIPS

• The single most important thing you can do is insulate your home. The thickness of insulation and its energy efficiency are rated by number. The higher the number, the more energy efficient it is. We recommend R-30 insulation for ceilings, R-19 for floors and R-12 for outside walls.
  
• Install storm windows and doors. If you can't afford storm windows, use relatively inexpensive vinyl window kits available at building supply stores.
• Caulk and weather strip around doors, windows and wherever two different building materials or parts of a structure meet.
  
• Set your thermostat on a comfortable temperature. Each additional degree adds about 5 percent to heating costs.
  
• Don't set your thermostat higher than the desired temperature. It will not make your home warm up any faster.
  
• Make sure your thermostat is on an inside wall away from windows and doors where a cold draft could make your furnace run harder than necessary.
  
• If you do not have a heat pump, you can lower your thermostat by 5 to 8 degrees if you're going to be away from your house for several hours. If you do have a heat pump, however, set your thermostat and leave it. Heat pumps operate most efficiently when the thermostat remains the same.
  
• If you're going to be away for a few days, lower the thermostat, but don't turn the heat off. A cold snap could freeze your pipes.
  
• Let household activities such as cooking, laundry and bathing help heat your home and add moisture to the air. Use exhaust fans sparingly.
  
• Electric space heaters are efficient only for heating one room. If you use a space heater, turn the central thermostat way down and close off the room with the heater.
  
• People generate heat. If you have any guests, lower the thermostat a few degrees before they arrive.
  
• Leave shades and draperies open on sunny days and allow the sun to help heat your rooms. Remember to close them at night
  
• Close the fireplace damper when the fireplace is not in use. Add glass fireplace doors to reduce heat loss up the chimney, even when the fireplace is in use.
  
• Make sure registers for supply and return air are not blocked by draperies or furniture.
  
• Clean or replace furnace filters monthly.
  
• Unless you have a gas or oil furnace, which needs air for combustion, keep crawl space vents closed in the winter.
  
• Closing warm air registers in unused rooms will save you little or no money if you have a central heating system with duct work. Your duct work has been sized and installed to operate most efficiently when warm air is allowed to flow freely throughout the house.
  
• Ceiling fans work well in the winter as well as in the summer. In winter, reverse the direction of the blades if you can to push warmer air on the ceiling down.
  
• If you have window air conditioning units, remove them in the winter to prevent heat loss through the units. If you can't remove the units, buy a cover.
  
• TERRA-THERM, INC. is a specialized distributor located in New Richland, MN with the commitment to offer product that provide comfort and energy savings to the consumer. Their products include: ECONAR Geothermal Heating and Cooling, WIRSBO Radiant floor heating, WARMBOARD radiant floor panels, and TEK Foil reflective insulation for floors, walls and ceilings.
  

 

AIR CONDITIONING TIPS

• Make sure your air conditioning system is efficient. Central systems are graded according to their Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ration (SEER) and window units are measured by the Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER). The higher the better. When buying a system or unit, look for a rating of 13 or higher.
  
• Insulate your home. If you can't insulate your whole house at once, do what you can. A little insulation is better than none.
  
• Make sure your central air conditioner is properly sized. An oversized unit will use more energy than necessary and will not dehumidify properly. If you're buying window units, choose the size you need to cool one room only. Window units are not designed to cool more than one room.
  
• Humidity makes your home uncomfortable in hot weather. Save moisture-making jobs like mopping, dish washing, laundry and bathing for early morning or nighttime.
  
• Set your thermostat on the highest comfortable setting. Raising the temperature just 2 degrees will reduce cooling costs by 5 percent.
  
• Close the blinds, shades or draperies in your home during the hottest part of the day.
  
• Turn off unnecessary lights. Much of the energy from a light bulb is heat.
  
• Make sure your attic is properly ventilated to relieve heat buildup caused by the sun.
  
• Plant trees to help shade you house. But make sure your air conditioner is kept free of any plant overgrowth that would interfere with air circulation.
  
• Light colors on the outside of a house reflect the sun's rays, reducing the temperature inside. If your cooling bills are higher than your heating bills, consider white or light-colored roof shingles when you must replace your roof.
  
• If you have central air conditioning, make sure your registers for supply and return air are not blocked by furniture or drapes.
  
• Vent your clothes dryer to the outside. If you can, use a clothesline on sunny days to avoid adding heat to your house.
  
• Cook out or prepare cold meals to avoid heating up your kitchen.
  
• Place heat-producing appliances such as lamps and TV's away from your thermostat.
  
• Change or clean the air conditioning filter once a month.
  
• Don't forget to clean the filters on window units. They're behind the front panel. Clean them with soap and water.
  
• Before the cooling season begins, use a brush to clean the coils on the outside heat exchanger of your air conditioner.
  

 

HEAT PUMP TIPS

• Set the thermostat on a constant setting and leave it there.
  
• Don't close off unused rooms. That reduces the efficiency of the heat pump.Don't block registers or air returns with furniture or draperies.
  
• Clean or change filters, and vacuum registers and returns monthly.
  
• Make sure the outside unit is not blocked by shrubs or weeds. Never stack anything against the heat pump or drape anything over it.
  
• Hose down the outside unit periodically to remove dust, dirt, lint, leaves and grass clippings.
  

 

WATER HEATING TIPS

• Match your water heater size to the needs of your family.
  
• Put the water heater in a warm area of the house and as close as possible to the points of hot water use. The longer the pipes, the more energy lost.
  
• Insulate the pipes. If you have a sprawling house or two or three levels, it may be more economical to have smaller water heaters near each water-using area, instead of one large central heater.
  
• Fix leaky faucets immediately. A steady drip can waste gallons, and the energy used to heat it.
  
• Don't let hot water run continuously when you're shaving or washing dishes.
  
• Break the habit of using hot water when cold water will do.
  
• Take short showers - five minutes or less.
  
• Maintain your water heater. Once or twice a year turn off the power to the water heater at the circuit breaker and drain the sediment from the bottom of the tank.
  

 

ENERGY-SAVING TIPS FOR THE KITCHEN

Cooking and refrigeration rank behind the heating and cooling systems and water heater in energy use. But people often use more energy than necessary to cook.

• Keep as much of the surface unit heat as possible from escaping. Use pots and pans with flat bottoms and always use a pan the same size as the surface unit.
  
• Make sure the reflector pans beneath your stove's heating elements are bright and clean. Shiny reflector pans help focus heat rays on the bottom of cooking utensils.
  
• Use tightly fitting lids. Food in covered pans begins boiling or steaming quicker and lets you use lower temperature settings.
  
• Turn the surface element or oven off a few minutes before cooking time is up. Electric stoves stay hot for a few minutes after they're turned off.
  
• Use a pressure cooker. It cuts cooking time to one-third that of conventional methods.
  
• Use small appliances like a toaster oven or electric skillet. On average they use half the electricity of a full-size oven.
  
• Use a microwave oven. It will use less than half the power of a conventional oven, and cook the food in about a fourth the time, greatly reducing cooking costs.
  
• Use as little water as possible. It takes energy to heat water. Most frozen or fresh vegetables can be cooked in no more than a quarter cup of water. Even eggs will cook in that little water if the pan has a tightly fitting lid.
  
• On a surface unit, start with high heat and lower the setting when the food starts to bubble or boil.
  
• In an oven, cook as many dishes at one time as you can. Foods with cooking temperatures within 25 degrees can be cooked simultaneously at the same temperature.
  
• Preheat your oven only when necessary. Many foods do not require it.
  
• Foods that need long cooking times (stews, soups and sauces) should be prepared ahead in large quantities and frozen in meal-sized portions.
  
• Don't peek in the oven. Each time the door is opened the temperature drops 25 to 50 degrees.
  
• Never use your oven to heat a room or to dry wet clothes or shoes.
  

 

ENERGY-SAVING TIPS FOR REFRIGERATORS AND FREEZERS

• Set your refrigerator thermostat on 40 degrees Fahrenheit and your freezer thermostat on 0 degrees F.
  
• Refrigerators and freezers operate most efficiently when full but not overcrowded. Put items slightly apart on refrigerator shelves to let air circulate.
  
• Don't open the door till you know what you want.
  
• Make sure your refrigerator and freezer doors are air tight. Adjust the door or replace the gaskets if necessary. Lubricate the gaskets with petroleum jelly to keep them from cracking or drying out.
  
• Vacuum the condenser coils in the back or bottom of refrigerators and freezers. Dust causes the unit to run more.
  
• If you're going on vacation, remove perishables from the refrigerator and turn the setting up a few degrees.
  
• Don't put uncovered liquids in the refrigerator. It will work harder to remove the moisture.
  
• Let food cool slightly before putting it in the refrigerator.
  
• Put your refrigerator and freezer away from direct sunlight and heat-producing appliances such as stove, water heater, dishwasher, washing machine or clothes dryer.
  

 

ENERGY-SAVING TIPS FOR THE LAUNDRY

Most of the money that goes into washing a load of clothes is for hot water. Most washing machines hold 16 to 18 gallons of water.

• Set your washing machine level for the size load you're washing. If your machine doesn't have a variable water level setting, wait until you have a full load.
  
• Wash with warm and cool water whenever possible as this can cut energy water heater usage in half. Always rinse in cold water.
  
• Don't use more detergent than necessary. Too many suds hamper effective washing and may require more energy for extra rinsing.
  
• Don't over wash - a 10-minute cycle is usually enough for even very soiled clothes.
  
• The soak cycle can save you money and extra work.
  
• When drying more than one load, dry them one immediately after another to utilize the heat in the dryer from the previous load.
  
• Don't add wet items to a load that is already partly dry.
  
• Wait for a full load to use your dryer, but don't overload. Over-loading makes your machine less efficient and more costly to operate. Use warm to cool settings on your dryer, especially for permanent press clothes.
  
• Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every use.
  
• Don't over dry your clothes. Locate your dryer in a heated part of your home to keep it from having to work harder to produce heat.
  
• Your dryer will run most efficiently if you dry clothes that are of the same thickness.
  

 

GENERAL APPLIANCE TIPS

Once you get past the big energy users, like your heating and cooling system, water heater and refrigerator/freezer, saving money may be as simple as letting your dishes dry naturally, or doing your ironing all at once. Each tip below, by itself, will not save you a lot. But together they can add up to substantial savings.

• Use cold water when running your garbage disposal. Cold water saves energy and solidifies grease, which can be ground up and flushed away.
  
• Wait until you have a full load before running the dishwasher.
  
• When time permits, open the door of your dishwasher and let the dishes dry naturally. A lot of the electricity used by a dishwasher is for the heating element for drying.
  
• Do your ironing all at once. It takes more electricity to heat the iron initially than to maintain the desired temperature. For safety's sake, turn the iron off if you are interrupted by the telephone or doorbell.
  
• Turn off the iron five minutes before you finish ironing and complete the job with the heat stored in the soleplate.
  
• Turn off TV's, stereos, and radios when no one is watching or listening to them.
  
• When blow-drying you hair, don't over dry. Many blow dryers use as much energy as an electric toaster, and for longer periods.
  
• Clean or replace the air filters on your appliances regularly. Clogged filters make them work harder.
  

 

ENERGY-SAVING TIPS FOR LIGHTING

Even though lighting accounts for only a small part of your total electric bill, a penny saved is a penny earned.

• Turn off incandescent lights when you leave a room. This is particularly important in summer because lights produce heat when they're on.
  
• Don't turn off fluorescent lights unless you'll be out of a room 15 minutes or more. They cost more to turn on and off than they do to run.
• Turning them on and off wears out the tube.
  
• Use fluorescent lamps when possible. They produce about four times as much light per watt as incandescent bulbs. And the life of a fluorescent lamp is more than 10 times that of an incandescent bulb.
  
• Use light-colored paint and wallpaper. Light-colored walls will make the light in your home appear brighter. You can save as much as 50 percent of the light by using a light-colored shade instead of a dark one.
  
• Keep light bulbs and fixtures clean. Dust and dirt block some of the light, requiring you to burn more lamps for the same amount of light.
  
• If you want a bright room, using a higher-wattage bulb is more efficient than using several smaller bulbs. High-wattage bulbs give you more light per watt of electricity.
  
• If you need lights on for security while on vacation, use a timer.
  
• If possible, locate floor, table and hanging lamps in the corner of a room rather than against a flat wall. Lamps in corners reflect light from two wall surfaces instead of one, giving you more usable light.
  
• For outdoor lighting, consider replacing incandescent lights with high-pressure sodium lights. High-pressure sodium lamps consume less energy for a given light output and they have a longer life.
  

 

VACATION CHECKLIST OF ENERGY SAVINGS

If you're going to be away from home for a weekend or longer, give your appliances a vacation too. Even though you aren't home using energy, many of your appliances are. Although following the tips below won't significantly reduce your power bill while you're away, it will save some.

• In summer, turn off your air conditioner. When you return home, set your thermostat on 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
  
• In winter, turn your heating thermostat to the lowest temperature that will prevent water pipes and bathroom fixtures from freezing.
  
• Turn off your electric water heater if you're going to be gone more than three days. It will take about one hour to reheat the water when it is turned back on.
  
• Unplug radios, stereos, clocks and instant-on TV's.
  
• Remove perishables from your refrigerator and raise the setting a few degrees.