We're always being bombarded with sales pitches that say "Save 40% on your energy bills!" or "Cut your electric bill in half!" Consumers are frequently misled and confused by the various gizmos designed to save energy in the home. Consumer advocates warn homeowners to look out for products that don't live up to the hype. Watch out for transient voltage surge protectors, black box devices for appliances, power factor correction devices, insulated paints, power-filtering devices and other energy conserving devices that promise hard-to-believe guarantees. Yet despite all the frauds out there, a number of legitimate devices are being widely used for saving energy in the home.
Since heating and cooling system expenses count for the largest portion of your overall home energy consumption, we'll first look at this realm of home energy saving devices. Programmable thermostats allow homeowners to set specific room temperatures for certain times of the day, without needing to manually adjust the dial. For instance, many people program their thermostats to turn down at night or while they're at work and not using the heat. They can also program the heat to automatically turn back up just before they come home at night.
For the forgetful, there are also remote control heating systems that let you change the temperature even after you leave home. With a quick phone call, you can change the temperature of your home. Centralized heating and cooling also helps households with individual thermostats to maintain better consistency.
Recent attention has been called to a phenomenon called "vampire power." Many Americans are surprised to learn how much their electronics are costing them when they're not in use. For instance, two DVRs use up the same amount of electricity as the average refrigerator, says Mark M. Michalski of the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority. Additionally, if every home in American used one digital picture frame (left on day and night), we would need to build five new 250-megawatt power plants, says the Electric Power Institute. Idling computers, DVD players and TV sets account for 10% of a home's energy use. In the average American household, 75% of the electricity used for electronic devices is consumed when the devices are shut off, reports the U.S. Department of Energy, which translates to more than $100 per year spent on essentially nothing. You can save energy by unplugging all devices (chargers, cell phones, televisions, computers, appliances, etc) when you're done using them. You can also use saving devices like advanced power strips, which allows DVRs to stay on, while cutting off power to other devices that don't need to remain on. The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit (available at Amazon) lets users turn off selected machines that fall into standby mode with a basic remote control.
Energy saving light bulbs can help you save energy at home. Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are starting to dominate the market because they last for 12,000 hours (five times as long as old incandescent bulbs!) Experts say you can save $50 to $100 per year by switching to CFLs. While you can't use these bulbs with dimmer switches, you can still see energy savings by replacing many of your other bulbs. Another option is to try LED lights. These lights aren't as good for large areas, but they're ideal for outdoor use, for highlighting a smaller area or for Christmas lights. Most of these bulbs last 30,000 hours, making them extremely efficient and cost-saving, despite the higher initial price tag.
Since heating and cooling system expenses count for the largest portion of your overall home energy consumption, we'll first look at this realm of home energy saving devices. Programmable thermostats allow homeowners to set specific room temperatures for certain times of the day, without needing to manually adjust the dial. For instance, many people program their thermostats to turn down at night or while they're at work and not using the heat. They can also program the heat to automatically turn back up just before they come home at night.
For the forgetful, there are also remote control heating systems that let you change the temperature even after you leave home. With a quick phone call, you can change the temperature of your home. Centralized heating and cooling also helps households with individual thermostats to maintain better consistency.
Recent attention has been called to a phenomenon called "vampire power." Many Americans are surprised to learn how much their electronics are costing them when they're not in use. For instance, two DVRs use up the same amount of electricity as the average refrigerator, says Mark M. Michalski of the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority. Additionally, if every home in American used one digital picture frame (left on day and night), we would need to build five new 250-megawatt power plants, says the Electric Power Institute. Idling computers, DVD players and TV sets account for 10% of a home's energy use. In the average American household, 75% of the electricity used for electronic devices is consumed when the devices are shut off, reports the U.S. Department of Energy, which translates to more than $100 per year spent on essentially nothing. You can save energy by unplugging all devices (chargers, cell phones, televisions, computers, appliances, etc) when you're done using them. You can also use saving devices like advanced power strips, which allows DVRs to stay on, while cutting off power to other devices that don't need to remain on. The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit (available at Amazon) lets users turn off selected machines that fall into standby mode with a basic remote control.
Energy saving light bulbs can help you save energy at home. Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are starting to dominate the market because they last for 12,000 hours (five times as long as old incandescent bulbs!) Experts say you can save $50 to $100 per year by switching to CFLs. While you can't use these bulbs with dimmer switches, you can still see energy savings by replacing many of your other bulbs. Another option is to try LED lights. These lights aren't as good for large areas, but they're ideal for outdoor use, for highlighting a smaller area or for Christmas lights. Most of these bulbs last 30,000 hours, making them extremely efficient and cost-saving, despite the higher initial price tag.
About the Author:
If you're environmentally conscious, you might be interested in using a garden rain barrel for water conservation. Click here to learn about the options in both traditional and decorative rain barrels for a healthy, eco-friendly garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment