Energy Saving Tips
Whether you’re buying a refrigerator, thinking about ways to reduce your home heating and cooling bills, or trying to save money on gas, the Baltimore County Green Building program, has energy saving tips that can save you money in every room of your home.
Did You Know
Home energy saving tips are not just for people with old homes that suck up energy because they haven’t been well insulated or the electricity hasn’t been upgraded in 40 years. Home energy saving tips is not just for people who live in nine bedroom homes with bowling alleys in the basement. Home energy saving tips are for everybody who lives in a home.
Here are a few to start with:
- Each degree you lower your thermostat below 73° F when heating saves you two to four percent.
- Fix leaky faucets (especially hot water). One drop/second equals about 165 gallon per month.
- Every time the refrigerator door is opened, up to 30 percent of the cooled air can escape.
- Use LED lighting for night-light and holiday decorations (0.08 watts/bulb vs. 0.48 watts/mini bulb). They last longer and are cooler to the touch.
Things You Can Do for Free
Energy costs money too, both for individuals and for the community. Using energy efficiently means you save on your energy bills, and it also means we can put off building new power stations. So, saving energy makes environmental sense for us and for future generations. Here are free energy saving tips to save on energy and cents, too:
- Lower your water heater temperature to 120º F.
- Clean lint filters on washers. Clogged filters can use up to 30 percent more energy.
- Unplug unused electronics.
- Use energy saver settings on home appliances.
- Reduce hot water consumption - wash cloths in cold or warm water and fix leaky faucets.
Things You Can Do for Low Costs
With the high cost of energy today, there is more incentive than ever to keep our own energy consumption in check. But perhaps more importantly, energy conservation is good for the environment and reduces our family's "carbon footprint." Following are low cost tips you can try to implement at home that cost little to nothing and can make a big dent in our energy consumption at home:
- Change furnace filters regularly.
- Replace light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL). They can save up to 75 percent on energy use.
- Install a programmable thermostat, which can save 9-25 percent on utility bills.
- Insulate light switches and outlets.
- Check caulking around windows and doors.
- Install occupancy sensors, dimmers or timer switches.
- Insulate older hot water tanks and pipes.
Call in the Pros
Determine your priorities. Have a “Home Performance with Energy Star” specialist conduct an energy audit on your house. Professional energy audits generally go into great detail. The energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills.
Energy Saving References
- US EPA Energy Star Program - www.energystar.gov/
- Home Energy Magazine - www.homeenergy.org/
- The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy - www.aceee.org/
- Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E) - www.bge.com/
- Maryland Home Performance with Energy Star Program - www.mdhomeperformance.org/
Revised December 21, 2011
