Conserving energy in your home is easier than you think. If you make small changes over time, you can trim unnecessary energy usage and lower your family’s carbon footprint. Most electricity is generated in power plants that burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas and emit carbon dioxide. By cutting energy use you can reduce the demand on power plants and save money in the process.
Get Together
Get the whole family involved in and excited about the idea. You are working together to develop an environmentally sustainable lifestyle and you need all hands on deck. Have fun. Use teamwork and encouragement. Post handmade signs around the house that give friendly reminders about energy-saving goals like turning out the lights. Keep a chart to document efforts.
Get Into Hot Water
You might not give hot water much thought, but it consumes 14 to 25 percent of your home’s energy, making it a good target for your family’s energy-saving efforts. Set the water temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and wrap the heater in an insulating blanket if it’s an older model. For every 10 degrees that you reduce the temperature, you will save 3 to 5 percent on your water heating bill. Reduce your hot water use by installing low-flow shower heads and aerated kitchen faucets, taking five-minute showers, running the dishwasher only when it’s full and turning off the faucet while soaping up your hands.
Lights Out
Lights consume about 10 percent of your home’s electricity, according to the EPA. One by one, replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent or LED bulbs. They use 75 to 80 percent less electricity and last 10 to 25 times longer. Get everyone in the habit of turning off the lights when leaving a room and using task lighting rather than overhead lighting; focus electrical use only where it is needed. Take advantage of natural lighting and keep lights clean to improve their efficiency.
Turn it Off
When TVs are turned off, they still suck up the amount of electricity generated annually by 21 large power plants. In the average home, the electricity used by DVD players, TVs and other small home appliances when they are turned off totals up to 438 kilowatt hours each year. This type of energy consumption is called “phantom load.” The simplest way to stop it is to plug the appliances into power strips and turn off the strips when the equipment isn’t being used.
Cooking
Every time you make a meal for your family, you have a chance to conserve energy. Use pots and pans that fit the burners; small pots on large burners waste energy. Cook with the lids on; the food will heat faster and less energy will be consumed. Reheat food in the microwave instead of the oven; it uses 70 to 80 percent less electricity. Bake in glass pans and you can set the oven 25 degrees lower. But don’t open the door to peek —- it lowers the oven’s temperature by 25 degrees.
Celebrate
Making meaningful changes is difficult, and it takes time to be successful. Old habits die hard —- but when they do, it’s cause for celebration. Take time every week or two and reflect on the ways your family is saving energy, saving the planet and saving money. Treat yourselves to a candlelit pizza party, a bike ride or a family art night. Then pick the next energy-saving actions to commit to.
Via Tumblr http://innovativegreenliving.tumblr.com/post/45334970227
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