Source: Wikipedia
Lately at Movoto Real Estate, we’ve been on something of an environmental kick. Last week we told you how to recycle your old coffee grounds. Today we thought we’d stick with the whole “helping the environment” trend and bring you a post solely dedicated to, well, helping the environment.
Now doing good for the environment and “going green” may indeed be trendy these days, but unlike skinny jeans or hipster facial hair, this fad is beneficial—and absolutely necessary.
Every day, 70 million tons of carbon dioxide are released into Earth’s atmosphere, causing coral reefs to disappear, Arctic ice to melt, and the planet to gradually microwave us. This is a trend that needs to be stopped immediately.
So without further ado—after all, every second, 2.4 million pounds of CO2 are emitted—here are 15 ways that you can help lower energy consumption in your home, lower your energy bill, and ultimately help to save the world.
1. Change Your Light Bulbs
The average household dedicates 11 percent of its energy budget solely to lighting. If you switch the bulbs in your house over to halogen, CFL, or LED, though, you can reduce your energy use by up to 80 percent.
2. Install a Programmable Thermostat
This can save you up to 10 percent on your heating and cooling costs.
3. Or Be a Smarter Thermostat Owner
If you don’t want to spring for a new thermostat, you can make a difference by setting your current thermostat to an appropriate temperature. Specifically, turn it down at night and when nobody is at home. In most homes, you can shave off 2 percent of your heating bill with each degree that the thermostat is lowered for eight hours a day. For example, lowering your thermostat from 76 to 71 degrees would cut your energy use by about 10 percent.
4. Wash Your Clothes in Cold Water
This simple switch will not only keep your darks darker and your colors sharper, but it can save you up to $63 per year on your energy bill.
5. Watch for Stars
When buying appliances for your home, keep an eye out for the Energy Star label, the government’s symbol of energy efficiency. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if just 10 percent of homes used Energy Star labeled appliances, it would reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 1.7 million acres of trees!
6. Switch to Low Flow Appliances
According to the EPA, the average American family uses 127,000 gallons of water a year. With low-flow appliances, you can reduce this by up to 40,000 gallons.
7. Do Your Dishes Less Often
This may be music to many people’s ears, but, in fact, letting the dishes pile up in your dishwasher and then running it once it’s full can actually save you up to 1,000 gallons of water per month.
8. Take Shorter Showers
I may sound obvious, but the amount of water you can actually save is a little surprising. By shortening your showers by only two minutes—especially in the hot summer months—you can save up to 150 gallons of water per month.
9. Seal Air Leaks
Go around your house and check for any leaks near windows or doors and seal them up. This could save up to 20 percent on your energy consumption per month, lowering your bills—not to mention making your house more comfortable.
10. Lower Your Water Temperature
Save energy and money by wrapping your water heater’s tank in a blanket to retain heat and lowering the heater temperature to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
11. Turn off Your Computer
Studies have shown that computers account for about 3 percent of all energy consumption in the U.S. these days. Rather than add to this unnecessarily, shut down your computer when you’re not using it, and if nothing else, at least switch off the monitor.
12. Get a New Computer
Here is your perfect excuse to finally ditch your desktop and get that nice laptop you’ve been eyeing: laptops are better for the environment. A powerful notebook typically uses about 30W of energy, whereas a desktop uses about 120W or more. If you switch from a desktop to a laptop, you could cut your energy consumption by up to 80 percent.
13. Be Unconventional
Switch from your conventional oven to a convection oven and you cut your energy use by about 20 percent. That’s because convection ovens use fans to force hot air to circulate more evenly, thereby allowing food to be cooked at a lower temperature.
14. Turn Off the Lights
By turning off the lights in any rooms in the house that you’re not currently using, and especially when you leave the house, you can reduce your energy use by 20 percent.
15. Get Rid of Phantoms
Phantom energy that is. Phantom energy is the energy used by all those appliances that we typically leave plugged in around the house: cell phone chargers, computers, lamps, microwaves, etc. Totaled, phantom energy can account for about 10 percent of a household’s energy consumption. This may not sound like much, but if you cut out that 10 percent by unplugging unused appliances, you’d essentially be gaining a month of free electricity every year.
