Turning down the refrigerator is a great way to save energy. A refrigerator can consume as much as 20 percent of your home’s power. Keep your refrigerator around 37 degrees and your freezer around 3 degrees. Turn on the energy saver switch, and make sure that the door gaskets are sealing properly when you close the unit.

You can also save power in the kitchen by running your dishwasher full and air drying the dishes. You will reduce your dishwasher’s electrical consumption by 20 percent if you eliminate heat drying.

When you buy appliances, get the most energy to efficient models you can, even if it costs you more money. The Energy Star Label guarantees that the appliance saves on electricity and helps reduce pollution.

When washing clothes, use cold water or warm water. There is no need for hot water. If you have an electric heater, this will reduce carbon emissions by 500 pounds per year, and by 150 pounds for a gas heater.

If you buy a new washing machine, a front loading washing machine will save energy by reducing water usage by as much as 70 percent in some cases. This will eliminate 1.4 tons of CO2 annually.

If you replace your water heater, consider getting a solar water heater. This will reduce C02 by 4.9 tons per year.

Replace incandescent bulbs in your home. Prices continue to drop for compact fluorescent bulbs, and quality continues to improve. While they are normally a few dollars compared to the 99 cent incandescent, they save energy so well that you spend far less on your lighting bill. In just a month or two, you have recovered your investment in bulb upgrades.

It has been estimated that replacing just one incandescent bulb with a CFL in every American home would save the equivalent of a nuclear power plant’s total annual energy production.

When taking a shower, you can save energy by using less hot water. Low to flow shower heads give you a great shower and save between 80 to 300 pounds of CO2 per annum.

Move out of your ideal comfort zone a bit when heating and cooling rooms. In the winter, a thermostat setting of 68 degrees in daytime and 55 degrees at night is optimal. In the summer, an optimal setting is 78 degrees. In fact, lowering the thermostat will reduce electrical usage by 6 percent.

Be diligent in cleaning and replacing air filters. A clean air filter will always save electricity. A dirty air filter will cost you more money than a replacement. In fact, just cleaning a dirty air filter is all you often need to do to save 5 percent of your power costs.

Investing in quality home insulation will also save energy by as much as 30 percent. In colder states, it may well be worth the money to invest in super insulating. Better insulation will save between 5.5 tons of CO2 per year and 23 tons of CO2 per year, depending on the size of your house and the type of heater you have.

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Category: Home Management
Keywords: Save Energy, Electric, Electric Appliances, Energy Efficiency, Water Heater, Affordable Electricity