Ten Ways to Save Energy (and Money) this Summer

by Adele, posted on July 7th, 2010.

The summer heat hit 102 degrees in New York yesterday and across the nation, everyone’s crankin’ up the AC, so it’s a great time for a few basic reminders on moderating energy use and saving money in the process.

1. Have you turned up the thermostat?

Air conditioning is one of the biggest energy users in the home; by raising your thermostat just a few degrees, you can make  a big difference in energy savings. One simple way to feel better in the heat? Take off your clothes. By wearing less clothing– shorts instead of jeans, tank tops instead of long-sleeved shirts– you’ll feel better and may be able to turn off the AC completely.

2. Have you drawn the curtains?

By keeping sunshine out of your house during the hottest parts of the day, you’ll help keep your home cooler. (Depending on how closely you followed the instructions to disrobe, you may already have pulled down your shades). You can also plant a tree outside to help shade windows.

3. Are you using a fan instead of the AC?

Using ceiling fans is an excellent way to feel cooler without using air conditioning. Choose an Energy Star model for the most efficient option, and use CFL lightbulbs, which produce 70% less heat. Note that ceiling fans only help you FEEL cooler– they don’t actually make the room cooler. So when you leave the room, turn off the fan.

4. If you’re using the AC, have you changed the filters?

If you’re using air conditioning, changing the filters (or cleaning them, if they’re not disposable) is a critical part of making sure your AC works effectively and uses the least amount of energy necessary. It’s also good to clean the coils inside and outside the air conditioning unit. By keeping everything clean, you can reduce energy use by 10%.

5. Do you wash in cold water?

Laundry machines use a lot of energy, and 85-90% of that energy is used by the water heater. If everyone in the U.S. switched to washing in cold water, that would save about 30 million tons of CO2 each year. If you’re worried that your clothes won’t get clean enough, try using one of the laundry detergents specifically designed for cold water use.

6. Do you hang your clothes out to dry?

Clothes dryers use around 12% of a home’s energy. Unlike washers, which vary quite a bit from model to model, dryers are uniformly bad (there isn’t any Energy Star rating for dryers, because they all perform so similarly). By air drying your clothes, you’ll take a huge chunk out of your energy use. In the summer, using a clothesline outside works well. You’ll also be preserving your clothes. The lint you take out of a lint screen is evidence of your clothes disintegrating; by line drying, your clothes will stay brighter, smoother, and newer-looking longer.

7. Are you keeping your appliances off as much as possible?

Try not to use appliances that create heat, like the oven, during the hottest parts of the day. Turn other appliances off as much as possible, and unplug ones that suck up vampire power even when they’re off (like most televisions).

8. Have you gotten around to changing your lightbulbs?

If you haven’t already switched to compact fluorescent bulbs, now’s the time. CFLs not only use much less energy than conventional bulbs, they also produce much less heat.

9. Is your house well-insulated?

Having the correct insulation can help save as much as 30% of the energy used to cool your house.

10. Have you done your research?

The Department of Energy created a handy web-based tool, the Home Energy Saver, that helps recommend improvements you can make. You can input specific details about your house, and it makes suggestions and tells you how much you can save.

Many of these actions are easy to take, and can make a surprisingly big difference. Of course, if you’re ready to start saving real money on energy, the best possible thing you can do is to get solar panels for your home. Solar energy is free and clean, so you can relax quite a bit on questions of usage and get off dirty grid power in the process. If you’d like to see whether there’s an active group discount on solar in your area sign up for 1BOG right now. Our group discounts are free to access and can reduce the cost of going solar by several thousand dollars.

And be sure check out this article for more ideas on how to reduce home energy use.

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