HELPFUL TIPS - SAVE MONEY:
TO HELP YOU CONSERVE ENERGY, HELP THE ENVIRONMENT, AND SAVE MONEY.
Water Heater
Reduce the temperature by a couple of degrees. If you are out of the home most of the day use a water heater timer.
Furnace
Make sure the filter is clean. Set back your thermostat a few degrees even if you have to wear a sweater in your home. One degree of temperature reduction will translate to 3% of energy savings according to the folks who supply us with the power.
Use whole home humidification. The proper humidity levels will make it feel a lot more comfortable thus saving on heating and cooling bills. Haven’t you heard the saying it’s the humidity? Yes it isn’t the heat but the humidity that makes you feel comfortable. It can be 90 degrees F in Dallas TX but if the humidity is low it will actually feel good.!
The desert is downright humid compared to our houses during the winter. The Sahara Desert has a relative humidity of 25% but the average heated home hovers between 6 and 16%.
According to Skuttle Indoor Air Quality Products, when the outdoor temperature is +10 Fahrenheit (F), and the outside relative humidity is 70%, a home heated to 72 degrees F has a humidity level of only 6%.
The type of humidifier best for your home depends upon your heating system. For humidification purposes, there are two types of heating systems: natural gas, forced air central heating systems and all other.
No matter how good the humidifier, it will only produce the moisture needed if controlled by the proper humidistat. Furnace mounted humidistats are ineffective because they are seldom adjusted properly. Honeywell makes the H1008 Automatic Humidity Control and the PC8900 Perfect Climate Control, which calibrate both heat and humidity. The Aprilaire Model 760A power humidifier features a truly automatic control that never needs to be set manually. All humidifiers can have humidistat mounted next to the thermostat so that you never have to go downstairs to reset them when the weather changes.
HUMIDISTAT SETTINGS
Outdoor temperature Indoor humidity
40 45%
30 40%
20 35%
10 30%
0 25%
-10 20%
-20 15%
Below –20 Move to Florid!
The furnace humidifier humidistat (control) should be adjusted up and down with changes in the outside temperature. Follow these recommendations for a few days. After several days, if your skin feels too dry, adjust the humidistat upward. If the windows start fogging, lower the humidistat setting slightly.
Programmable Controllers
Use a programmable thermostat to reduce the temperature when you are at work
The Department of Energy (DOE) says that the single easiest way most people can cut their heating and air conditioning bill is by getting rid of their old fashioned wall thermostat and installing a programmable model. It is also painless. With a programmable thermostat a computer chip dials down the temperature in the house during the winter when you and the rest of the family are sleeping or outside of the house. Just before you get up or come in, the thermostat automatically dials up the temperature. Most people never notice the difference, but everyone notices the difference on their monthly fuel bill!.
During the summer the programmable thermostat works just the reverse. It dials up the temperature slightly while you are away or sleeping and brings the temperature down to your comfort level just before you get up or come home. Modern programmable thermostats are very easy to program and lets you vary the heating and cooling schedule almost infinitely.
Most do-it-yourselfers can install and program a simple programmable thermostat themselves. You can also call your heating and cooling contractor and have him do it for you. Major makers are Honeywell/Magistat, White Rogers and Hunter.
Heat Loss
Most of the heat from your home is lost through your attic. Make sure that your attic is well insulated. For northern states an R49 rating is a must.
Use an attic fan to keep the attic well ventilated. Consider using a solar powered attic fan that installs very easily.
Walk around your home and look for cracks where cold air seeps in. The corking around the window’s tend to crack with age…these might have to be scraped away and recorked.
If you have older windows that you can feel a draft, consider replacing them with current energy efficient windows. If you cannot afford replacing your window’s consider using “shrink to fit window film” and a hair dryer to give you a tight seal.
Refrigerator
The biggest energy use in a home is the refrigerator.
If your fridge is pre 2001 it will use on average 40% more energy than, the current “energy Star” models. Reduce the temperature settings by a couple of degrees. Use an inexpensive thermometer to read the temperature. Keep the refrigerator full. If it is empty most of the time, fill a couple of gallons of water in milk cans and keep in refrigerator. Clean the coils (heat exchanger) underneath your refrigerator. These simple steps will help the compressors to work less!.
Florescent Bulbs
Traditional incandescent bulbs are very inefficient, while giving off light, it also acts like a heater. I remember growing up as a youngster observing my mom using a 100-watt bulb to keep the little chicks nice and warm. Patented in 1880 these light bulbs were gems of light but today are gems (rocks) of wasted energy.
The alternative to this wasted gem is the modern compact fluorescents light bulb. (CFL). These use 70% less electricity than regular light bulbs and last for several years longer. While costing more than the incandescent light bulb, these CFL’s convert more of the power in to light energy thus running cooler hence requiring a lot less energy. These CFL’s not only use less electricity to provide light, but they don't dump extra heat into your home.
A down side to CFL's is that they start dim and take a few minutes to warm up to full brightness Also, most CFL's can't be used on dimmer switches; to use them on dimmers you need to buy the kind marked for dimmer use. Finally, CFL's contain small amounts of mercury, so if a bulb breaks you should use chemical-resistant gloves to clean it up. The amount of mercury in one bulb is so small that disposal isn't subject to federal regulations, but to be responsible it's best to dispose of old or broken fluorescent lights at your community's hazardous waste facility, rather than throwing them in the trash.
When you buy CFL bulbs the package will be labeled to show you how many watts it's equivalent to. For example, a 15-watt CFL bulb package will say something like "60 watt equivalent". They have to say that otherwise people would look at the package and think, "15 watts? That's not nearly enough light!" But it is, because a 15-watt CFL bulb puts out as much light as a standard 60-watt bulb.
CFL’s last for years longer than your standard incandescent bulb but a caution – some cheap imitations on the market have a very short life span. Stick to the name brands that offer at least a 5+ year warranty.
If you are interested in finding out how much of power you will save then go to the EnergyStar.Gov website and use there fancy calculator. If you want to go through the math yourself then here is the formula:
WATTS X HOURS USED
TOTAL COST = ______________________ X COST PER KILOWATT-HOUR
1000
Example: Your home has 10, 60-watt bulbs that you want to change with 10, 15 watt CFL’s. ( Remember the 15-watt CFL gives you the same light out put as the 60 watt incandescent)
10 X 60 watts = 600 watts (incandescent)
10X15 watts = 150 watts (CFL’s)
Savings: 600 – 150 = 450 watts.
Assume your lights are on for 6 hours a day 5 day’s a week or 30 hours a week or 1560 hours a year. (6 X 5 X 52)= 1560 hours a year.
450 watt savings X 1560 hours a year = 702,000 watt-hours divide by 1000 = 702 Kilowatt-hours(KWh).
The last time I checked my electricity bill I was paying 17 Cents a Kilowatt-hour.
702 X 17 cents = savings of $119.34. This will be your savings for a year!
Please note health Canada’s safety recall report concerning some CFL’s made by Globe.
Stand by Power
Stand by power sometimes referred to as idle power or phantom power is the power used by a device even when it is turned off. This wasted power contributes to 5% of energy that is lost in all homes in the United States.
If you are not sure whether your device is using power even if it is turned off, use an inexpensive Kill-A-Watt meter that runs between $30 - $50.00.
Some of the culprits to this wasted power are the TV, VCR, Stereo system, Cell Phone Charger , Lap top charger. While some of these devices can be unplugged, it becomes a hassle to constantly unplug your TV or Stereo setup. The solution is to use a suitable power strip for these devices that can be turned off when not in use!
Happy Savings
Ranjit
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