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Home Fuel Saving Tips

Cooking and heating fuels, such as natural gas, propane and oil, can become a drain on your family’s finances, especially during the colder winter months. A comprehensive approach to reducing fuel costs begins with fuel-burning appliances like furnaces, but also encompasses the entire home. Insulation, windows, doors, thermostat settings and usage patterns all affect heating use. Improving the efficiency of any of these features will help reduce your fuel costs.

Thermostat Settings

Your home temperature settings are an important determinant of fuel costs from heating. Turning down the thermostat at night and when you’re out of the house will also help save on fuel costs. The Department of Energy suggests 68 degrees as the winter thermostat setting for when your home is occupied during the day.

Insulation

Insulating your basement, attic and outer walls helps retain heat inside your home. Outer wall insulation is especially valuable in cold and windy areas. Foam, fiberglass and “spray” insulation are all options depending on the area’s accessibility and dimensions. If your house is old, it’s a good idea to survey the existing insulation to see whether it meets modern efficiency and safety standards, and whether it has become waterlogged or otherwise worn over time.

Windows and Doors

Old windows and doors can become a source of drafts that drain heat from your home. A combination of proper insulation and draft sealing can reduce heating costs by up to 20 percent. Drafts can be detected by feel or by using a lit cigarette or candle to check for airflow that influences the smoke or flame. Caulking, sealant and weather stripping can be used to help seal drafts around windows and door frames, and are all available at home improvement stores. Remember to check for drafts in attics and storage rooms, as well as living spaces.

Water Heating

Heating water is a substantial source of home energy use. Ascertain your water heater’s capabilities, and check that the temperature isn’t set higher than necessary. While 140 degrees Fahrenheit is a standard default setting on many models, 120 degrees or below may be all the heat you need. The savings can be substantial —- every 10-degree reduction in water temperature can lower energy bills by 3 to 5 percent.

Closed Rooms and Auxiliary Heating

Consider whether you need all your rooms heated throughout the winter. Closing doors and vents to unoccupied storage areas, attics and other empty spaces can reduce the burden on a central heating system and make it easier to heat the lived-in areas of your home. If a particular room of your home is a heating “problem area,” try a small electric or auxiliary heater to help warm that space. A portable space heater costs less to operate than your house-wide climate control system, and can produce better results in hard-to-heat spaces.

In the Kitchen

You can also save fuel in the kitchen by cooking efficiently. Use the smallest-size pot you can for the food you’re preparing. Instead of a standard full-size oven, try using a toaster oven or stove top when preparing smaller meals. When using your oven, leave the door closed as much as possible to retain heat. For dishes like stew or soup, using a slow cooker or crockpot that will save energy and fuel.

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10 Green Ideas That Save Money and Help The Planet

Green ideas can help mankind in different ways. Living greener helps to conserve scarce resources like energy and water for our future generations and reduce carbon emissions to help make the planet a better place for everyone. What is often overlooked is how much money you can save as well.

Conservation is important for all, and we can take some simple steps in our day-to-day life for helping our planet earth and saving some money. Here are 10 ideas to get you started.

1. Change your lights

To environmentally friendly, we have to think of getting alternative power and light sources. As much as 20% of our electricity is used for lighting. CFLs or the compact fluorescent light bulbs are very helpful for this purpose. It has been estimated that if every household replaces a light bulb with a CFL, the reduction in carbon emissions would be equal to that achieved by removing one million cars from the road!

2. Turn off your computers at night

Many people have a habit of leaving their computers in sleep modes at night. This results in wasted electricity, the so-called phantom energy. The computers should be turned off when are not in use. This will help you save around 40 watt hours of electricity every day. In monetary terms this saving amounts to a lot too. If you do not like to wait, then you can set your computer for having an automatic start-up a few minutes before you start the work. You can also boot up the computer while you are pouring your morning coffee or tea. If a desktop is not necessary then go for a a laptop which consumes less energy.

3. Plant a tree

You can plant a tree to provide shade to your house. This will be good for the surrounding environment and can provide cooling effect for your home as well. After a few years, the trees become big enough to give you ample cooling and can help in reducing the expenditure that occurs on running the air conditioner. It has been found that well-placed hardwood deciduous trees can reduce the cooling costs of a home by up to 40%. Get you whole family and involed and plant a tree for each family member.

4. Use the cruise control feature of your vehicle

Most of the modern vehicles come with the feature of cruise control, which improves fuel economy on long road trips. Cruise control helps to keep the vehicle at more steady speed while traveling through light traffic on freeways. This saves fuel; cruise control equipped cars can give around 15% higher mileage. If your car has a cruise control feature you will benefit from using it when the conditions are right. Gasoline prices are at an all time high, so cruise control is a good value-for-money feature of modern automobiles.

5. Adjust your thermostat

You can save energy by adjusting the heating levels of your thermostat. During summers you can adjust your thermostat to a 5 degree higher temperature and during winters, adjust it at a temperature that is five degrees lower. The more modern thermostats are programmable and are a better choice, as they can regulate the room temperature automatically at times you select. There is no reason to keep a cool home during the summer when you are away at work or on vacation. The savings can be dramatic. Remember that when you lower 1 degree on the thermostat, you save 10% of the energy used.

6. Use rechargeable batteries

Some 15 billion batteries are manufactured each year. Most of the batteries that are produced and sold today are disposable alkaline batteries. Out of this huge number of batteries only a small number get recycled. You can use the greener alternative of rechargeable batteries. The batteries can require an upfront investment in a charger, but the investment is well worth it, and gets recovered within a year or less, depending on your usage. You can get a charger and a set of rechargeable batteries to use the batteries in alternation for fulfilling your energy requirements. You can also avoid visiting the market repeatedly for getting batteries. Purchaisng a battery charger is greener and good value for the money.

7. Stop using the paper bank statements

Try stopping the monthly paper bank statements that you get in your land mail and go online for your bank statements. You might also get rewarded for doing this, as some banks will give you a cash bonus or can also donate money to good causes on your behalf. If every household stopped the use of paper bank statements and opted for online bank statements, the savings would be enough to educate around 17 thousand graduates of high school at a public university for a year. Trees will also be saved by saving paper.

8. Break ice in a better way

Salt is used for melting the ice that gets accumulated on sidewalks and steps after a big winter storm. These ice-melters are dangerous for pets and animals and hard on the plants as well. Salt can also leach into the wells and pools of drinking water as well. Therefore try to avoid using such ice melters. Many stores have on offer the pet safe-deicers for use around your home.

9. Pay bills online

You can save some trees and late fees if you pay your bills online. Almost all organizations that issue monthly bills have options for online payment. Some estimates reveal the fact that around 18.5 million tress can get saved each year if all the households start paying their bills online. This will also help in reducing the emission of carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse effecting gases by around 2.2 billion tons and would also result in the reduction in production of solid waste by around 1.7 billion pounds. And another bonus is that you save on postage.

 10. Share the ideas

Use the knowledge that you acquire from different sources and also pass it to those you know. Environmental conservation and protection should be a concern for all individuals. By passing on the knowledge and ideas on living green and saving money to others, you give them a tangible benefit as well as improve the overall greenness of the world.

5 Green Ways to Travel to Work

Many people are beginning to practice eco-friendliness within their home and working lives which is a positive step in the bid to reduce carbon emissions, however one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions haven’t quite been tackled – transport. The commute to and from work is significantly affecting climate change. Traffic congestion means journey times are longer than usual   
in rush hour, resulting in more fuel consumption and consequently more carbon emissions which are proven to contribute to global warming and have effects on human health. Using alternative methods to travel to work can greatly reduce carbon emissions, travel expenses and even commute time.

TRADITIONAL TACTICS

If you live within a reasonable distance you are blessed with the ability to leave your car at home and save abundances on fuel. Walking or cycling to work can be enjoyable in the summertime and great exercise, particularly for office workers who are generally seated for the duration of the day. Although you may not want to leave your car at home every day, if the weather looks sunny and you have a burst of energy why not choose to walk? With fuel prices constantly rocketing, choosing to walk or cycle can be incredibly attractive due to the money saving aspects.

CAR SHARING

If you live a greater distance, walking or cycling may not be a practical option of getting to work. Rather than jumping straight behind the wheel, ask colleagues in the office to see if anyone lives nearby and ask if they want to start car sharing. If you and a colleague share a car to work you could half your fuel costs, mileage and carbon emissions. Alternating days of who drives can also reduce the stresses of driving each morning.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

If no one from the office lives within your area you could consider public transport as an option. Initially this may sound unattractive, but often urban areas have convenient transport links. Considering monthly passes can also save you some money on public transport, in some cases it may actually be cheaper than the costs of running a car and far less stressful. Using public transport minimizesthe number of cars on the roads, reducing congestion and carbon emissions.

GREEN CARS

Hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular due to their financial and environmental benefits. They combine clean electrical energy with a gas powered engine, making them a cleaner and more fuel efficient method of transport. Their fuel consumption is lower than that of an average car, saving you money on fuel.

WORK FROM HOME

Although working from home isn’t always possible, if you live quite a distance from your work you could ask your manager if working from home a few days a week would be acceptable. This could save you significant amounts of money and drastically reduce your carbon emissions. It could also benefit your company money and productivity too if you offered to work the hours which you would usually spend commuting.

Eco-friendliness isn’t only saving the environment, it’s also saving many office workers money. It’s proven that greener alternatives to transport are cost effective. So why not try it? 

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Tips on Saving Cooking Gas

Gas ranges are more efficient than electric ranges in several ways. While burners on electric stoves take time to heat up, gas burners come on immediately. Gas heat also cooks food more quickly and evenly. Newer gas stoves use pilot-less ignition, which saves gas since no pilot light is required when the appliance is not in use. With a few changes to your cooking habits, you can save even more gas.

                              

Use the Microwave

The microwave uses about half as much energy  to cook food as the oven, and up to 80 percent less for very small portions. It also produces less heat than an oven or range, reducing the energy needed for air conditioning in the summer. For foods that require browning, cook the food in the microwave until almost done, then finish in a preheated oven or hot skillet for a short time.

Use the Oven Efficiently

Preheat the oven only long enough to reach the target temperature. Letting the oven preheat excessively wastes gas, since no food is cooked. Once the food is in the oven, don’t open the door unless it’s absolutely necessary. Every time you do, the temperature inside drops an average of 50 degrees Fahrenheit, using more gas to get the temperature back up to the desired temperature.

Use the Range Efficiently

If your range has different-sized burners, choose the appropriate burner for the size of pan you are using. A pan only 2 inches smaller than the burner wastes up to 40 percent of the cooking heat and, consequently, the cooking gas.Always adjust the flame to fit the pot; don’t turn it up so high that flames come up the outside of the pot. Trap heat near the cooking liquid by covering pots with a lid.

Service Burners as Necessary

Clean the burners frequently. Allowing them to become blocked with food and ash reduces their efficiency. Cleaning the reflectors at the same time directs the heat where it’s needed, reducing gas use. A blue flame indicates good gas combustion in the burner. If the flame is yellow, there is a problem with combustion and you may need to have the appliance serviced by a professional.

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