Ways to Save a Dime in 2009
I have been scouring the net and reading everything I can to find ways to 'save a dime in 09.'
This is the best of what I have found.
It is a hodge podge... a bit of everything.
I hope you find some, if not all, of this info useful!
CEILING FANS
Ceiling fans are an important part of home heating and cooling. They can cut your cooling bill by 40% and your heating bills by 10%. A fan coated with dust will reduce the air quality of your home. It can aggravate allergies and asthma and cause headaches. Another reason to clean the fan is for the motor's sake. It takes extra energy to turn those fan blades when they are weighed down by dust. The ceiling fan may wobble, causing the air to distribute poorly. The motor can burn out sooner due to this extra weight. If you are trying to save energy, a clean fan is an energy-efficient one.
CHANGE YOUR LIGHT
If every household in the United States replaced one regular lightbulb with one of those new compact fluorescent bulbs, the pollution reduction would be equivalent to removing one million cars from the road. Don't like the color of light? Use these bulbs for closets, laundry rooms, and other places where it won't irk you as much.
TURN OFF COMPUTERS AT NIGHT
By turning off your computer instead of leaving it in sleep mode, you can save 40 watt-hours per day. That adds up to 4 cents a day, or $14 per year. If you don't want to wait for your computer to start up, set it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you get to work, or boot up while you're pouring your morning cup 'o joe.
DON'T RINSE
Skip rinsing dishes before using your dishwasher and save up to 20 gallons of water each load. Plus, you're saving time and the energy used to heat the additional water.
DO NOT PRE-HEAT THE OVEN
Unless you are making bread or pastries of some sort, don't pre-heat the oven. Just turn it on when you put the dish in. Also, when checking on your food, look through the oven window instead of opening the door.
HANG DRY
Get a clothesline or rack to dry your clothes by the air. Your wardrobe will maintain color and fit, and you'll save money. Your favorite t-shirt will last longer too.
BAN BATHTIME!
Have a no-bath week and take showers instead. Baths require almost twice as much water. Not only will you reduce water consumption, but the energy costs associated with heating the water.
USE YOUR CRUISE CONTROL
You paid for those extra buttons in your car, so put them to work! When using cruise control your vehicle could get up to 15% better mileage. Considering today's gasoline prices, this is a boon not only for the environment but your budget as well. DO NOT use cruise control in the rain!
ADJUST YOUR THERMOSTAT
Adjust your thermostat one degree higher in the summer and one degree cooler in the winter. Each degree celsius less will save about 10% on your energy use! In addition, invest in a programmable thermostat which allows you to regulate temperature based on the times you are at home or away.
TURN OFF LIGHTS
Always turn off incandescent bulbs when you leave a room. Fluorescent bulbs are more affected by the number of times it is switched on and off, so turn them off when you leave a room for 15 minutes or more. You'll save energy on the bulb itself, but also on cooling costs, as lights contribute heat to a room.
What's eating away at your cash reserves without your knowledge?
No, we're not talkin' couch cushions. A phantom load is the energy that's sapped by appliances when they're plugged in, but not on. Plug your devices into power strips that you switch off each night to achieve energy symbiosis.
The Benefits
- Less parasitic exploitation of the earth's resources. If we averted phantom loads in all U.S. homes, we could shut down 17 power plants.
- It's easier than contracting malaria. Power strips with surge protectors make it easy to "unplug" many appliances at once.
Wanna Try?
- Smart Strip Power Strip - smarty-pants device that senses when electronics are off, then "unplugs" them; also has space for "always on" appliances such as clocks and the fridge ($40).