There is a lot of talk about going green, saving energy and being environmentally friendly and such, but what really works? Really – what energy saving tips or ideas for going green work? Which energy conservation ideas work fast and are virtually guaranteed to save money while also being affordable for most people to do? Here’s my list of what I call the Top 10 Energy Saving Guarantees that have been proven to save energy and save money while also being affordable enough for almost anyone to handle. I provide these guarantees because I know that many people want to be green, but have a hard time finding a place that is affordable to get started. 1. HOME LIGHTING Recent increases in electric utility costs have us either cutting back or changing how and what we light. To get the most from your lighting: a. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFL’s ( Compact Fluorescent Lights ) b. Reduce outdoor lighting loads by using solar powered path lighting and super bright solar lamps c. Install solar skylights to allow natural light into normally darkened areas of the home. Changing your lighting to use CFL’s and allowing more natural light to enter the home is guaranteed to save energy. 2. DOORS AND WINDOWS To improve the efficiency of the doors and windows in your home or apartment, the following suggestions are affordable enough to consider, whether you own or rent: a. For drafts blowing under an exterior door: - on modern doors, adjust the threshold to reduce the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold. - on older doors, install weather stripping that seals the crack at the bottom of the door when the door is shut. b. Install weather stripping around the sides and top of all exterior doors. c. To improve the efficiency of windows: 1. Install any available storm windows. - If storm windows are not available, but removable screens are installed, remove the screens and then wrap them with plastic and replace the screens. 2. Caulk all exterior cracks around the window frame and home siding. 3. Install heat shrinkable plastic on the inside of the window. If you follow the guidelines provided for better sealing your doors and windows, you are guaranteed to save energy. 3. ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRYERS As much as a clothes dryer is essential, it is also one of the primary sources of wasted energy. The energy fix for the dryer includes: a. Install a dryer vent seal. This eliminates any back drafts from entering the home when the dryer is not in use and could easily reduce your homes heating and cooling costs by up to 10%. b. Don’t run the dryer on frigid winter nights or on hot summer afternoons because whenever you run the dryer and exhaust the air outdoors, the same amount of air is being sucked into your home. By installing the dryer vent seal and by not running the dryer when outdoor temperatures are at extreme odds with your indoor temperature, your energy savings are guaranteed. 4. BATHROOM EXHAUST FANS Exhaust fans are very helpful in removing moisture and foul odors from your home, but they are also a primary source of energy waste. To improve their performance: a. Install an Intermatic, thirty to sixty minute timer for each exhaust fan switch. This will guarantee an exhaust fan is not running longer than necessary. Exhaust fans are pulling in unconditioned outside air into your home while also exhausting air you paid to heat or cool. This process is necessary, but the focus is to reduce the amount of time to only what is necessary. By performing these simple steps, you are guaranteed to save energy. 5. COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES Computer may be able to shut down or hibernate when it detects it has not been used for a while, but your printer, sound system, backup drives, etc, keep chugging away at your homes energy, 24 hours a day, forever. To resolve these issues or to at least reduce their impact: a. Install an energy saving smart strip for your computer and supporting devices. The smart strip device senses when you have shut down your computer and then shuts down all your other peripheral devices automatically. b. If you have the habit of leaving your computer on when it is not being used, you could work on improving your awareness of your habit and turn your computer off more often or set your computer to hibernate or sleep after two hours or so. Tests I ran have shown that the simple habit of turning off the computer more often while also using a smart strip, will reduce yearly energy costs by at least $25.00. Install a smart strip for your computer and you are guaranteed to save energy. 6. REFRIGERATORS AND FREEZERS Your refrigerator and freezer runs twenty-four hours a day, forever, so even a little improvement makes a difference due to how often these items run. The energy saving fix for these items is two-fold: a. Remove the vent cover at the bottom of the unit and clean out all the dust and dirt from the refrigerator coils. b. Keep the refrigerator and freezer as full as possible. Using a combination of zip-lock bags or Tupperware bowls, store extra ice, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, bread, pitchers of water, etc, so that there is less empty air space. By cleaning the coils, the unit will run slightly less, and by filling empty air space with solid objects, the unit will run even less. When these two ideas are used together, the unit runs less, emits less heat into your kitchen and even lowers your air conditioning load on the house. The energy savings are guaranteed. 7. HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS To reduce the amount of energy being wasted by your heating and cooling systems: a. Seal the Leaks - 1. Forced Air Systems – while the system is running, follow the main duct line and use either the back of your hand or a smoke stick to locate areas where air is escaping from the duct system and seal those leaks with foil duct tape…not that sticky gray tape. - 2. Hot Water or Steam Systems – Insulate the pipes with foam insulation, being especially diligent where piping crosses near basement window and door areas. b. Perform yearly cleanings. - 1. Oil and coal heating systems have the capacity to create a lot of soot. It is vital that your boiler be cleaned yearly and the chimney cleaned every other year. By removing the soot from the boiler, you improve the boilers capacity to absorb the heat and by keeping the chimney clean, you improve air flow which allows the fuel to burn hotter and cleaner. - 2. Air conditioning systems, as well as air source heat pumps require yearly maintenance. Coils need to be cleaned, refrigerant charges need to be adjusted and routine maintenance needs to be performed. Being diligent about performing preventive maintenance on your heating and air conditioning systems will not only lengthen the systems life time, but your energy savings will be guaranteed. 8. WATER Your savings can really grow by learning how to better conserve your water. All the energy saving benefits of reducing water usage are even greater for those who have wells and use a pump to extract their water in the first place. a. Replace your shower head with an energy saving shower head that uses less than the standard 2. 5 to 3. 5 gallons of water per minute. Many models are available that use 1. 5 to 1. 75 gallons per minute while still providing full body coverage and pressure while showering. By reducing the amount of water used while showing, the energy you use to heat your water can be dramatically reduced, plus it will help eliminate your water heater or furnace from running out of enough heated water so that another person could shower right after you. b. Locate the sink closest to your water heating source and use that sink whenever you need to wash your hands. You’ll have hot water quicker and will leave less heated water standing in the pipes. By becoming more aware of how you may have been wasting your heated water by using too much during showering or by leaving much of it to just cool down in your pipes, you can easily change a few habits that are guaranteed to help you save energy. 9. CEILING FANS Fans are often only associated with cooling things, but they can better be defined as devices that help move air from one place to another. This works for both cool or hot air. a. During the winter, set your fan reversing switch in the upwards position and keep the speed setting on low. What this will do is to gently push any heated air off the ceiling and force it back down along the walls to the floor where you want it. Since the fan is pushing the air around the perimeter of the room, you wont feel any breeze or draft during this process. b. During the summer, set your fan reversing switch in the downwards position and use the low or medium speed setting. This will help keep the room from becoming stagnant and will prevent hot air from building up near the ceiling and will allow the air to mix better and cool more naturally. Meanwhile, since the fan is blowing air down directly, you will feel this breeze and you will feel cooler as the wind from the fan helps your perspiration evaporate from your skin. When we take advantage of using ceiling fans to better distribute our heated or cooled air, our overall comfort level increases while the amount of energy we use decreases. This more comfortable situation is guaranteed to save energy. 10. CLOTHING AND ATTIRE By learning how to better dress ourselves, we could learn to live more comfortably in our homes while using less energy to condition the air within our homes. a. During colder weather conditions, be sure to wear socks, full length pants and long sleeve shirts in your home. It’s not necessary to add multiple layers (unless you want to), but by simply ensuring you are protecting your exposed skin from “drafts”, you will feel more comfortable at a lower temperature setting. Then, by lowering your thermostat by 5 to 10 degrees, you can save from 10% to 20% more energy. b. During hotter weather conditions, and especially at night, remove your socks, wear shorts and short sleeve shirts. If you exercise in the home or come home hot and sweaty, give yourself a few minutes to cool down a little and then change your shirt or pants with something fresh and lighter. Doing so will allow you to maintain a warmer temperature in the home and reduce your air conditioning costs. There is often too great a tendency to up the thermostat during winter months instead of dressing more efficiently. If you are walking around your home in the winter in your shorts, you are going to be cooler and you will either raise the thermostat setting or put on more clothing. One choice will waste energy and the other is guaranteed to save energy. The overall message is no different than what our grandparents used to say in that ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’. As we learn to stop wasting, we are effectively giving ourselves a raise in salary. That’s great motivation, so whether you agree with the reports on global warming or believe we should keep drilling or not, most of us already agree that we’d like to have more money, so by reducing what we waste, we will all have more money left to enjoy on things that matter to us.
David is an author and home energy inspector in Pennsylvania, specializing in the fields of Heating and Air Conditioning, Electrical Wiring and Interiors/Insulation. David’s career highlights include authoring ‘The Rewards of Making Energy-Efficient Choices’, working in the electrical engineering division of three nuclear power plants and serving as an administrator, engineer and installer in the heating and air conditioning field. He lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with his wonderful and supportive wife, Karlene and spends his time writing and performing home energy audits.You can visit his website at: http://www.EnergyEfficientChoices.com

“Ready for winter?” We love to ask that question when the weather starts to chill each autumn. But this year, getting ready for winter means preparing yourself for heating costs that are running at all-time highs. It’s time to get serious about saving energy in your home. The good news is that, what’s good for the wallet, is also good for your health. Here are some top tips:Keep it cooler.

Turn down your thermostat if you do not have elderly or infant residents. Adopt the “après ski” look at home; a high thermostat can dry out our nasal passages, and make us more susceptible to colds and flu.Program your thermostat.

If your home is unoccupied during the day, a programmable thermostat will keep your home cool during your absence, and then kick in with welcoming heat just before you return. You can also keep the heat low during your sleeping hours, but still wake up to a warm house in the morning.Maintain your furnace.

Regular maintenance of your heating unit will help keep your energy bill down too. Make sure that you have your furnace professionally checked at the beginning of the heating season. Late summer or early autumn is the best time to book your appointment, so keep this in mind for next year. Try to change furnace filters often.Keep the cold out.

Good storm doors and windows are a necessity in most of Canada. But they’re only as good as their installation. Invest in superior quality products, have them professionally installed, and you will recoup your investment monies in no time.Insulate, insulate, and insulate!

Especially in your attic. Heat rises, so just as a good hat keeps in our body heat, so a well-insulated attic holds in your home’s warm air.Get out the caulking gun.

There are many hidden places where your expensive warm air escapes out into the cold. Walk around with a lit candle to check for drafts. Caulk around sill plates, doorframes, window frames, attic entrances, chimney flashing, and anywhere that any wiring, ducting, plumbing, or flues penetrate your exterior walls. Remember to insulate all of your exterior electrical outlets too.Watch those kitchen and bathroom fans.

Your fans are blowing out your expensive warm air, so use them wisely. You don’t want mould, but you may want some extra humidity. Clean and reverse your ceiling fans – they’ll help keep the warm air down where you need it.Warm the floor.

You may love hardwood, stone or tile, but you need cozy carpets underfoot during the winter months. Many people roll their rugs up again when the weather warms.Use the snow.

Snow is a great insulator. Some homeowners swear by the practice of banking snow around the foundation, especially in regions where the “basement” is an unheated crawlspace. Be sure not to block any furnace or dryer vents.Keep a blanket box or basket.

Have some cozy throws available where people gather. Invest in down duvets for your bedrooms – nothing else provides such instant comfort. Smaller down-filled throws are new on the market, and are great for snuggling under during those evening hours spent in front of a book or a movie.

There’s no question that fuel prices will hit Canadians in the coming months. Look for ways to be a frugal user of home heating his winter: it’s healthy, wealthy and wise.
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WIN100N Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat Receive a Free Timer as a Gift With Your Purchase!

The WIN100N is a Heating or Cooling Programmable Thermostat for Window Air Conditioners and Electric Space Heaters.

Receive a free iconic Lux timer, a $9 value, with your thermostat purchase!

It plugs into a normal household receptacle outlet. Electrical Rating is 120 volt, 15 Amp. Accurate Temperature Control while Saving Energy. Weekdays and Weekends can be programm (more…)

Whether heating or cooling your home, you will be using energy and this costs money. If you are able to make your home more energy efficient, you can save some money and as a bonus you can help preserve the environment. Here are some ideas about how to make your home more energy efficient.

The first step that you have to make is to use a lighted incense stick or a tissue to find out any drafts. You can move them slowly next to windows or doors and this will move the smoke or the tissue. Check the caulking around the windows.

There must be no gaps between them and the walls of the house. If there is a leak, remove the old ad install the new caulking. One good way to save energy is to check the caulk every year.

Check also the weather stripping on the doors. They prevent drafts from getting in or cool air from getting out.

If you have no weather-stripping them, it is easy to add them and lots of it is adhesive-back and it easily sticks to the doorframe or the bottom of the door.

You also have to check around the electrical outlets. These areas are often insulated, but you can buy thin foam insulation especially designed for fitting under the outlet panel that blocks the drafts.

Here are some steps to conserve energy. First you have to install a programmable thermostat to control the temperature. It will adjust the temperature to match the schedule and to make sure that you are not heating or cooling an empty room.

You can use compact fluorescent light instead of regular incandescent bulbs. They provide a given amount of light and use much less energy and do not produce as much heat as regular bulbs.

Turn down the temperature in your water heater. They are usually so high set so that somebody may get burned. You have to adjust the temperature to 120 degrees. You can add insulation to your water heater and hot water pipes.

Insulating blankets are designed to wrap around a water heater and insulating foam tubes that go around the hot water pipes and are already available. You can replace your furnace filters on a regular basis.

If the furnace filters are blocked they can make your HVAC system work harder and longer with the use of more energy. If the filter is clean the system will work more efficiently. You have to adjust ceiling fans in order to blow warm air from up high in the room during the winter.

You have to conserve the energy efficient rating (EER) of the appliances that you replace. Modern appliances are much more energy efficient than the few years old appliances. You have to adjust your habits.

You can use heat generated appliances in the cooler evening hours. This will be good for heating your home in the winter and will be easier for the air conditioner during the summer. You have to turn on the washing machine and the dishwasher for full loads only.

Washing the partial load will waste both energy and hot water. It is preferable to take showers and not baths. Showers usually use less water. It is good to install water-saving showerheads that will conserve hot water.

The last step is to open blinds and drapes so the sun to be able to come in during the winter and close them to keep the sun out during the summer.

Most of the ideas will cost you less than 20 dollars and some of them will not cost you anything. If you put them together you have a major impact on the amount of the energy that you use.

The things that you are going to need are insulation for hot water pipes and electrical outlets, replacement furnace filters, programmable thermostat, compact fluorescent lights.
Care to know more? Visit www.The-Handyman-Guy.com and grab a copy of my eBook titled “The Handyman Guy Secrets”, totally FREE!
The Handyman Guy is the owner of www.The-Handyman-Guy.com , a site dedicated to helping people finding their “inner-handyman”. You got one, too!

White Rodgers has been a pioneer in home comfort for more than seventy years and their innovations on that front do not stop with the 1F83-261 multi-stage non-programmable thermostat. This thermostat can maintain a set temperature to within 1 degree which prevents temperature swings that rob you of comfort and energy savings. The larger permanent memory improves performance and retains any programs during a power failure as well. The 1.8 inch LCD display is 60 percent larger, i (more…)

Thanks to the recent meltdown of the financial sector both in the UK and worldwide, 2009 is not shaping up well to be a good year for many. So why not kick sand in the face of the purveyors of doom and gloom and do something in your life that will make you feel good about yourself and has the added benefit of saving you money and reducing carbon emissions? We can all save energy in our homes with very little expense or effort. There are the no-brainers, such as turning off lights when you leave a room and turning the thermostat down a couple of notches and putting on a jumper. But what we’re looking at here is energy saving products. There are an ever increasing number of innovative new products out there that are designed to make energy saving easy. So when you’ve done insulating the loft and renewing the boiler, why not take a look at some of these little beauties. Electricity monitors. There are basically two types of electricity monitors available: wireless and “plug-in” models. The idea of both is simply to allow you to make you more aware of you energy use so that you can alter your energy consuming behaviour accordingly. I would suggest these are a great place to start on your energy saving adventure as they can help you measure the effect of new energy saving products as you introduce them. Standby Savers Standby on TV, audio and PC systems can consume an awful lot of electricity even when the equipment is out of use. Thankfully there are a whole host of standby saving products out there to help. Most are simple “plug and play” type affairs that are controlled by automatically sensing when a machine is shutting down/starting up. TV and audio offerings usually pick up the signal from your existing remote control. Either way, when you power down in the normal way, these eco gadgets will do the rest for you ensuring that the kit is switched off at the socket when not in use and automatically powered up when it is.  Put the kettle on All too often when making a cuppa we boil far more water than is required – this is a waste of energy. Eco kettles make it easy to boil just the right amount of water for the number of cups that you require. This can reduce your cuppa making energy consumption by a third and reduces time wasted waiting for the kettle to boil as well.  Reduce Hot Water Use It takes energy to heat water up – so it makes sense not to waste it! Consider using eco-balls in the washing machine instead of detergent. They’re kinder to the environment and allow you to wash at a lower temperature. Also, if you have a shower hog in your household I would recommend the acquisition of  a shower timer. For very little cost you can have a frog, duck or water drop shaped timer on the shower wall that will beep at when your preset time is up! Energy Saving Bulbs Energy saving light bulbs use about 80% less energy than conventional bulbs. They are a little more expensive, but reassure yourself that due to their vastly extended life time and cheaper running costs they are worth the investment. So there we have a quick run down of just a small selection of vast array of energy saving products available. Make 2009 a year to remember for the right reasons, and feel good about saving energy and money.  
Jeff J endorses Chris Tyrrell who writes for Ecofreak, an environmentally friendly online shop specialising in energy saving products to help reduce your energy usage and costs. Visit the website for more details.

Astonishingly, Americans generally spend $1600 or more a year on their utility bills. Not only is much of this wasted energy, but more carbon dioxide is emitted into the air from one home than two average cars. The following tips will help you save energy costs both at home and in the car.

*Set your thermostat comfortably low in the winter and comfortably high in the summer. Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating and cooling system.

* Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

* Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.

* Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use.

* Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips; turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use (TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power).

* Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Take short showers instead of baths.

* Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.

* Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gasoline.

* Look for the ENERGY STAR label on home appliances and products. ENERGY STAR products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Energy.

Energy Auditing Tips:

* Check the insulation levels in your attic, exterior and basement walls, ceilings, floors, and crawl spaces.

* Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, switches, and electrical outlets that can leak air into or out of your home.

* Check for open fireplace dampers.

* Make sure your appliances and heating and cooling systems are properly maintained. Check your owner’s manual for the recommended maintenance.

* Study your family’s lighting needs and use patterns, paying special attention to high-use areas such as the living room, kitchen, and outside lighting. Look for ways to use lighting controls – like occupancy sensors, dimmers, or timers – to reduce lighting energy use, and replace standard light bulbs and fixtures with compact or standard fluorescent lamps.

Insulation Tips

* Consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting insulation R-values for your home.

* Use higher density insulation, such as rigid foam boards, in cathedral ceilings and on exterior walls.

* Ventilation plays a large role in providing moisture control and reducing summer cooling bills. Attic vents can be installed along the entire ceiling cavity to help ensure proper airflow.

* Recessed light fixtures can be a major source of heat loss, but you need to be careful how close you place insulation next to a fixture unless it is marked IC.

These tips, and more, are provided to you in a larger PDF file by the US Department of Energy.
David Tanguay is dedicated to providing research, reviews & helpful information to consumers and businesses. For more information related to Green Energy and Alternative Energy please visit http://greenenergyonline.org

From the Manufacturer

The Lux TX9100E is a fully-programmable energy saving thermostat that is compatible for use with almost every home heating and cooling system, including heat pumps. 7-Day programmable, the TX9100E helps save energy by allowing a homeowner to select times and temperatures that best match their daily schedules and comfort levels. The result is a more energy efficient heating and cooling system that uses energy when it is needed most. The TX9100E also includes (more…)

Amazon.com

Keep your home comfortable and cash in on energy savings with the RTH7500D 7-Day Programmable Thermostat from Honeywell. Designed for quick installation and offering simple push-button controls and an easy-to-read screen, this thermostat lets you control the temperature of your home without having to make constant manual adjustments. .caption { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica neue, Arial, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; } ul.indent { li (more…)

Amazon.com

Keep your home comfortable and cash in on energy savings with the RTH7600D 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen Thermostat from Honeywell. Designed for easy use and quick installation and packed with convenient features, this thermostat gives you programmable, customizable control over your home’s temperature without having to make constant manual adjustments. .caption { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica neue, Arial, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-style: ita (more…)low glycemic index foods