70 Ways to Save Energy and Money

Everyday Steps

1. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle. Recycle everything that you can.
2. Turn off lights that are not in use.
3. Turn off bulk freezers when not in use.
4. Take shorter showers, 5 minutes at most.
5. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth
6. Set your hot water heater at the lowest possible setting.
7. Use cold water to wash your laundry.
8. Turn your thermostat down during the day, wear a sweater.
9. Turn your thermostat down at night, use extra blankets.
10. Use a fan instead of an air conditioner during the summer.
11. Close up unused rooms.
12. Turn off dehumidifiers when not needed or buy an Energy Star approved unit.
13. Turn your hot tub down or off when not in use.
14. Turn your computer off when not in use.
15. Use a microwave instead of a stove or oven when possible - they use less energy.
16. Wash and reuse zip lock bags.
17. Use power strips. Appliances often use energy even when they are turned off. Plugging appliances into a power strip and turning the strip off when they are not in use prevents useless energy loss.
18. Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s or LED’s. This will save you money on your electric bill.
19. Use a killawatt meter to learn about where the energy you use is going.
20. Use a clothesline instead of an electric or gas dryer

Shopping

21. Take your own reusable canvas or cloth bags to the store.
22. Purchase products in glass instead of plastic. Glass is easier to recycle and is a fully recyclable material without material loss.
23. Plan your shopping trips with the use of a tool like Google Maps.
24. Look for products with minimal packaging.

Health and Diet

25. Eat lower on the food chain. Eat less meat.
26. Buy bulk products to reduce waste produced by excess packaging.
27. By locally produced foods whenever possible.
28. Reduce the purchase of processed and frozen foods.
29. Purchase at least 10% organic foods
30. Purchase dairy products that do not contain rBST
31. Avoid canned goods due to Bisphenol-A

Gardening

32. Compost - the natural process of decomposition produces less methane emissions than the breakdown of waste a dump or landfill.
33. Rake leaves, do not waste energy by using a leaf blower.
34. Use rain barrels to supply water for gardens and lawns.
35. Plant a tree.
36. Use an electric or push mower for your lawn
37. Use native and drought resistant plants.
38. Reduce the amount of lawn planted.
39. Work on an edible landscape

Home Maintenance and Updates

40. Purchase a programmable thermostat.
41. Caulk and weatherstrip your doors and windows to prevent air leaks
42. Clean your chimneys
43. Shrink wrap your windows during the winter.
44. Purchase easy to use wrap around foam insulaters for your pipes.
45. Insulate your attic.
46. Insulate the duct work in your home.
47. Insulate the joist bays in your home.
48. Have your furnace cleaned and tuned annually.
49. Add solar powered outdoor lamps.
50. Insulate your water heater
51. Insulate your Garage Door
52. Replace your windows with Energy Star rated Windows
53. Use Low or Zero VOC paints in the home
54. Replace the wall-to-wall carpet with environmentally friendly flooring

Traveling

55. Walk or ride a bike - it is healthy!
56. Take public transportation or carpool.
57. Change your car’s oil regularly
58. Make sure your car is properly tuned up
59. Replace the air filter regularly
60. Inflate the tires on your car to the proper level. This increases fuel efficiency.
61. Drive at the speed limit. A speed of 35-55 MPH results in maximum fuels efficiency for most vehicles.
62. Turn your car off when parked. Never leave your vehicle idling.
63. Do not use drive-thru’s. Park your vehicle, turn it off, and walk inside.
64. Avoid having unnecessary weight in your vehicle.

Other

65. Freecyle - giving things away prevents them from ending up in the landfill, where they will end up producing harmful methane emissions as they break down.
66. Check out thrift stores and yard sales for furnishings and accessories
67. See if your favorite magazines have an online or digital edition
68. Use Online Banking from your financial institution and eliminate paper billing
69. Join a video subscription service or use Cable pay-per-view instead of purchasing movies

Unplug Your Appliances

Only plug in your small appliances when you need them. Do we really need the clock on the microwave? Unplugging it will save you money every month. The same goes for all other small appliances in your kitchen and around the home. Anything with an LED, power adapter or remote will use power while plugged in, even if turned off. Just leaving these items plugged in can add dozens of dollars to your electric bill every month.

Although certain appliances need constant electricity, like refrigerators of course, those that do not are constantly using a small amount of power to enable them to be instantaneously ready — which is really not necessary. The accumulated effect of unplugging all these non-essential items would make a substantial difference in energy consumption. The list of things to unplug when not in use should include cellphone and battery chargers, televisions, DVD players, video games, computers, stereos, coffee pots, and toasters. Though in today’s society, anything with a plug is reasonably suspect of being a power vampire in your home. Many devices such as televisions can actually use almost as much power when turned off as they do when turned on.

If you cannot unplug these devices invest in smart surge protectors. These devices will allow you to easily cut the power to multiple devices when a master device such as a television is turned off. This can easily be used to turn off DVD players, surround sound systems and video game consoles with one click of the remote. They can be used throughout the home where groupings of appliances or applications are used together.

However when planning your power off scheme in the home, make sure that critical devices continue to receive power. For instance, if you use an Internet Telephone company like Vonage, you need to make sure that power to your modem and router is uninterruped to maintain service. The same could be said for the DVR in your entertainment system. It can’t work if there is no power. This is what I like about the Smart Power Surge. It allows you to designate some devices as always on while others are turned off. While the ultimate goal is that our homes wouldn’t use power at all when we don’t need it to, for most people that isn’t likely to happen. Being able to finetune your power consumption to your needs though is a big bonus that can save on the monthly energy bill and the environment with little impact on your modern lifestyle.

Change 5 Lights

Change a light, and you help change the world. Replace the conventional bulbs in your 5 most frequently used light fixtures with bulbs that have the Energy Star logo and you will help the environment while saving money on energy bills. If every household in the U.S. took this one simple action we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars. When changing your bulbs make sure to change ones that are used frequently to get the most savings. Read more