Free - Things That Cost Nothing and Save Cash

• Turn down water heater thermostats as appropriate.
  
  
• Turn off lights when leaving a room.
  
  
• Set thermostats to 680F in winter when you're home, and down to 550F when you go to bed or when you're away. (Programmable thermostats do this automatically).
  
  
• Use energy-saving settings on washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, and refrigerators.
  
  
• Avoid wasting water, hot or cold, inside or outside your home.
  
  
• Clean your refrigerator's condenser coils once a year.
  
  
• Air-dry your clothes, when practical.
  
  
• Close heating vents in unused rooms.
  
  
• Repair leaky faucets and toilets (5 percent of water "use" is leakage).
  
  
• Close drapes (and windows) during sunny summer days and after sunset in the winter.

Simple and Inexpensive - Things That Will Pay for Themselves in Lower Energy Bills in Less Than a Year

• Install a water-saving 2.5-gallon-per-minute showerhead ($15).
  
  
• Install water-efficient faucet heads for your kitchen and bathroom sinks ($2 each).
  
  
• Install a programmable thermostat ($26).
  
  
• In the attic and basement, plug the air leaks a cat could crawl through, and replace and re putty broken window panes (about $20).
  
  
• Clean or change the air filter on your warm-air heating system during winter and on air conditioning units in the summer ($2).
  
  
• Install an R-7 or R-11 water heater wrap ($12).
  
  
• Insulate the first three feet of hot and inlet cold water pipes ($6).
  
  
• Install a compact fluorescent light bulb in the fixture you use the most ($15).

The above lists, as well as ideas for saving energy and money over a "payback" period of one to fifteen years, appear on the Rocky Mountain Institute's website at: www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid195.php


Copyright 2001-2008 Marilyn Haas. All Rights Reserved