Be Green, Save Green: Energy Efficiency Tips
Earth day is the perfect day to reflect on our personal footprint and how the way we run our homes affects the planet. While home energy efficiency has been a big topic of conversation, and the cost of utilities are increasing by the week, we wanted to take some time to list a few ways that you could save money and help the planet by decreasing your home energy costs.
Energy Efficiency Tips
Low Cost Savings
#1 Replace Incandescent Lightbulbs
If you still have some older style lightbulbs slowly phasing out, replace them with Halogen bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that are more energy efficient and last longer than the Incandescent bulbs.
#2 Unplug appliances, and unused chargers
Even though you might not have anything turned on, household items that are plugged in still use energy. These plugs can be responsible for ~10% of your energy bill.
#3. Door Sweeps
Having door sweeps offers an easy way to keep the cold or warmth out of rooms where it is not needed. Don’t spend money on AC for your unfinished basement!
#4 Wash in cold water
According to treehugger.com 90% of the energy used during a wash cycle is dedicated to heating the water while only 10% is used to run the machine.
Bigger Ticket Savings
#1. Maintain your heating and cooling systems
Each season by having your HVAC contractor perform a tune-up. This will help your system to run as efficiently as possible.
#2. No-cost energy assessments
These help determine what the best course of action is to start saving money. When you opt to utilize their recommendations they provide incentives of at least 75% for recommended insulation, no-cost LED light bulbs, air leak sealing, and more. On Cape Cod, Cape Light Compact offers free home efficiency tests including the blower door test which measures air leakage. Mass Save also offers a free online energy assessment