Baby, It's Cold Outside

Energy Saving Tip

What You Can Save.

Man up and set your thermostat at 68 degrees. You won't die from frostbite, I promise you.

You save 5% for every degree lowered between 60° and 70°.

Turn your thermostat down or completely off during the night or when you will be away for an extended period of time. No sense heating unoccupied space.

This can save you between 5% and 20% on your energy bill.

Reduce the temperature of your hot water pump. A normal setting is 120 degrees. Make sure it's not set any higher than 125 degrees.

Savings can be between 7% and 11% of water heating costs.

Bring on the sunshine! Letting natural sunlight in will help warm things up. Of course, don't forget to close window blinds and drapes when the sun goes down to help insulate.

Big windows, big rays, big savings. It just depends, here. Chances are, if your windows are that of a jail cell, this isn't going to be your money saving technique of choice.

Shut your fireplace up when it's not in use. Chimneys tend to pull heated air out from your house, so close the damper or close up the fireplace with insulation if you don't plan on using it.

Save up to 8% of your furnace air on this quick fix.

Don't be a beauty queen. Shorten your shower and you can lower your water/electric bill.

Showers total 2/3 of your water heating costs. You can save your cost by 33% by taking shorter showers.

Only wash full loads of laundry and use cold water when you can. Oh, and don't forget to clean out your dryer screen after every dry.

By using cold water, you can save 75% of your washers energy use. Wowzahs.

If you are complaining about how cold it is and you're wearing shorts around the house, then I don't feel bad for you. Put on your pants, socks, and long sleeves. Don't be silly.

This will save you the embarrassment of complaining about something with a very simple solution.

Don't go all Clark Griswold with the holiday lighting.

Your neighborhood dignity. We aren't in Whoville.

Energy Saving Tip

What You Can Save.

Replace your furnace filter. When your filter is mucked up with dust, it restricts air flow.

Save up to 5% on the cost of heating.

·         Bust out your caulking. Fill in any leaks around doors and windows.

·         Spray foam insulation can be used around larger areas.

·         Install weather stripping along door frames.

·         Install gaskets behind your outlet covers.

Up to 10%

Replace incandescent lights with ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent light bulbs.

These light bulbs use 75% less energy . you do the math.

Install low-flow shower heads. I hated that my parents had these.but it works, so they win. Don't they always?

You can save between 10% and 16% on water heating costs.

Get a jacket for your hot water tank. Yes. Seriously.

Jacket insulation can save 10% on water heating costs.

Purchase a humidifier. Air with more moisture feels warmer.

It just depends on how much you think this works.

Energy Saving Tip

What You Can Save.

Buy a smart house

                                ...Okay, not really.

But I mean, look how much fun these people are having with their smart house.

Replace your old appliances with ENERGY STAR appliances.

New refrigerators use between 20% and 46% less energy than other refrigerators depending on how old your current refrigerator is. Washers use almost 50% less energy.

Install a programmable thermostat.

These can save about 15% on energy costs. And they're programmable. How cool, right? It's all about keeping up with the times, people.

Increase insulation in your ceilings.

This can reduce heating costs 5%-25%

Purchase high-efficiency windows.

FIVE STAR windows reduce up to 15% of heating and cooling costs