Top 25 Home Energy Saving Tips You Might Not Be Aware Of

1. Keep your lamps clean, as a thin layer of dust can cut down luminescence.

2. Keep your overhead fan blades clean as the dust creates aerodynamic drag and uses up more energy.

3. Try a towel to dry your hair. Your hair will be softer and feel more natural than using a power-draining hair dryer.

4. An extra blanket is just as good as an electric one and uses no energy.

5. Toss the huge old water heater and install point of use heaters that instantly heat up only the water you need.

6. Don’t ever use an open fireplace but replace with a wood burning stove. Not only will it save oodles on your heating bills, but you can actually cook on it!

7. Don’t cook frozen foods and waste energy. Let them thaw in the fridge first.

8. The different sized burners on your stove aren’t there for aesthetic appeal, they are intended to be used with different sized pots and pans. Always fit the size of the pan to the burner for maximum efficiency.

9. Use task lighting. You don’t have to light up the whole kitchen if you’re just cutting vegetables.

10. Find out what times of the day electrical energy is cheapest and use your appliances then. Use timers if necessary.

11. Modern laptop computers can do anything desktops can, and use as little as one third the energy.

12. Standby mode is a huge power hog. Turn off or even unplug computers, peripherals, and audio/visual appliances when not in use.

13. Your UPS system protects your sensitive electronic equipment against power spikes, but it will do it even better if it’s unplugged when not in use: No electrical connection, no spike!

14. Take your old tube television set to the recycling depot and treat yourself to a new flatscreen, which uses only a fraction of the energy!

15. Don’t change 5 times a day. Why not wear your “around the house” t-shirt for two days in a row? Saving laundry cycles saves energy, and it’s better to be an energy saver than a clotheshorse.

16. Turn your dryer into an indoor koi pond and use your clothesline. Your clothes will smell much nicer and it uses up zero energy!

17. Insulate and weather-strip until you’ve sealed everything possible.

18. Use heavy curtains and keep them closed as much as possible in the winter, and to block sun in the summer.

19. Portable oil filled electrical heaters can be far more efficient than baseboard type or halogen lamp ones.

20. Unless it’s arctic blast time, keep your central heating down low and carry an electric heater to whatever room you’re using.

21. Don’t walk around your house in winter as if you were on a beach in Tahiti. Put on a sweater, long pants and heavy socks. You’ll feel better and cuddlier too.

22. Bad news for Fido and Kitty, but the pet door has to be sealed to save energy. The pets simply can’t go in and out 100 times a day.

23. Keep the filters in your HVAC system super clean, as that will improve efficiency.

24. Don’t be a fanatical housekeeper. The carpets don’t have to be vacuumed every day, the dishwasher run for 4 plates, and the washing machine go through a cycle for a couple of sets of undies.

25. Last but not least: Rediscover your family. They can be just as entertaining as TV or internet and they don’t use electricity to run, just snacks and beverages.