Energy Conservation... In Your Home

Quick Tips to Save Energy

There are literally hundreds of ways we can find to conserve energy in our homes. No one expects you to be able to adopt all or even the majority of the tips presented. However, each of us can find some measures that make sense in our particular home and circumstances.

Many of the quick tips involve changing some of our energy using habits around the home. These actions cost us nothing and savings can add up quickly. Other actions require modest investments to reap the benefits of more efficient lighting technology or improvements in appliance efficiency.

See how many of these no-cost or inexpensive measures you can adopt. The more measures you adopt, the more you will save. Focus first on heating and then on water heating, lighting, refrigeration and clothes drying for the maximum benefits.

Install a programmable or setback thermostat to automatically turn down heat when people are not at home, and during sleeping hours.
Set thermostats to 68^oF or lower for winter heating and 78^oF or higher for summer cooling.
Turn off lights, computers and entertainment devices when not in use.
Switch to the "energy-saver" settings on your washing machine, clothes dryer and dishwasher.
Check and clean your refrigerator’s condenser coils once a year.
Repair those dripping hot water faucets that send money down the drain 24 hours a day.
Unplug that second refrigerator in the garage or basement. Older refrigerators are very inefficient and can easily cost you $125 - $150 a year in electricity bills.
Install low-flow showerheads and cut your hot water consumption for showering by 30 – 40 percent.
If your water heater is more than 10 years old, wrap it with an insulated blanket and save $10 - $15 per year in energy costs.
Change your furnace air filter at least twice each winter.
Seal and insulate heating system ductwork in unheated parts of the house.
Install compact fluorescent light bulbs in lamps and fixtures you use the most. This measure alone can save you $35 a year or more if you change out five 100-watt incandescent lamp bulbs.
Make it a habit to run only full loads in your dishwasher or clothes washer.
Check the temperature of your refrigerator and set it between 37 and 40 degrees F.
Examine your basement or crawl space. Heat will try to move to the coldest area of your home. Often this is the basement, or an unheated crawl space. Check to be sure that there is insulation in the basement or crawl space walls.
Also check the insulation levels in your ceilings and walls. Ceilings should be insulated to at least R-38 and above ground walls to at least R-11. Crawlspace walls should be insulated to R-19 and basement walls insulated to R-11 or greater. Windows should have 2 layers of glass, either a thermopane or a window and a storm window.
Air sealing the openings around plumbing pipes, wires, chimney and other gaps is recommended before adding insulation.
Shopping for a major appliance this year? Carefully check the energy guide labels to help you select the most efficient appliances and save big bucks in the long run. For example, Energy Star refrigerators are 10% more efficient than most common brand models. An Energy Star clothes washer is 40% more efficient than a standard model.
Look for savings available by unplugging infrequently used televisions, VCR’s and other electronic games. These devices always consume small amounts of electricity, even when turned off, to power internal clocks or "instant-on" features. To really shut these devices "off", you need to unplug them. Putting them all on a power strip can make the task easier.
Get a home energy audit. Ask the utility that provides your heating fuel if they will conduct an energy audit to identify more cost-effective conservation measures in your own home. Or, conduct a do-it-yourself audit.
And lastly, ask your grandmother if you can borrow her old clothesline so you can dry clothes with the sun.

For more complete information the Department of Environmental Quality has published the Montana Energy Savers Guide.