For many homeowners, “going green” isn’t just a fad – it’s a fact of life. By following just a few energy-saving tips, you can easily save yourself a bit of cash while helping to decrease your carbon footprint. To get you started, here are seven simple tips you can follow:
- Air seal your home – Leaks in your home, whether it’s from cracks around your windows and doors or where plumbing or wiring enters your home, can lead to a huge amount of wasted energy. Although it’s impossible to make your home completely airtight, using caulk, spray foam or weatherstripping to seal leaks can do wonders.
- Lower your thermostat – Decreasing the indoor temperature by 7-10 degrees can save you as much as 10 percent on your heating and cooling costs each year. If you don’t trust yourself to make the change, get a programmable thermostat. At least try to reduce the temps when you’re not home or are sleeping.
- Wash laundry in cold water – Using hot water will increase your costs of washing clothes tremendously. If possible, wash most clothes in cold water to save energy and money.
- Turn off your surge protector – Even though your appliances can be turned off, the truth is that many devices will continue to use a small amount of power when on standby. The easiest way to prevent this is to plug them into a surge protector and switch the entire thing off.
- Lower your water heater’s temperature – Everyone loves the idea of hot showers, but you can turn the temperature down to 120 degrees F. That’s plenty hot enough for most hot water uses.
- Put your computer on sleep – Since many households use their computer on and off throughout the day, you might not want to unplug it. Instead, use its sleep mode to save when you’re not using it.
- Open the curtains – On a sunny winter’s day, open the curtains or shades on the sunny side of the house. That solar energy will warm up your rooms, giving your heating system a break.
For more expert energy-saving tips or other home comfort questions, contact the professionals at Senica Air Conditioning, Inc., Inc. We’ve been serving the HVAC needs of the Tampa-Clearwater area since 1992.