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energy-saving tips
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Air Conditioners
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Don't cool rooms that aren't occupied. |
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Open windows on breezy days instead of turning the air conditioner on. |
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Make sure your air conditioner is the proper size for the area you are cooling. |
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Check your air conditioner filter at least once a month and keep it clean. |
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Turn off your air conditioner when no one is home. |
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Set the automatic timer to turn on your air conditioner 30 minutes before you arrive home. |
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If you use central air-conditioning, our free programmable thermostat will help you better manage your energy use. To learn more about this offer, click here. |
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Ceiling fans can make your air conditioner's job easier while saving you money. |
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A two-degree adjustment to your thermostat setting (higher in summer, lower in winter) can lower cooling/heating bills by four percent and prevent 500 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. |
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If installing a new central air conditioner (or heat pump), you should know that recent field studies suggest that approximately 75 percent of installed cooling equipment may have incorrect amount of refrigerant. An incorrect refrigerant level can lower efficiency by five to 20 percent, and can cause the equipment to fail prematurely. |
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Refrigerators
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Be sure the door shuts tightly. |
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When purchasing a new refrigerator, choose a high-efficiency model. |
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Keeping refrigerator coils clean helps it to run more efficiently. |
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Set your refrigerator at 40° F. |
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Lights
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Replace ordinary incandescent bulbs with new compact fluorescent bulbs. |
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Replace ordinary light switches with dimmers and motion sensors. |
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Use timers to turn your lights on and off when you’re away from home. |
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Keep bulbs and light fixtures clean. |
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If every home in America completely replaced the five light fixtures they use most with Energy Star qualified models, we would collectively prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than eight million cars. |
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If every household in the country replaced four 75-watt incandescent bulbs that burn four or more hours a day with four 23-watt fluorescent bulbs, we would save as much energy as is consumed by approximately 38 million cars in one year. |
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As a nation, we spend about one-quarter of our electricity on lighting, at a cost of more than $37 billion annually. |
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Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) save energy and last a long time. When they do burn out, recycle them! Bring your expired, unbroken CFLs to any Home Depot or IKEA for free recycling. For store locations and more information, visit www.homedepot.com/ecooptions or www.ikea.com/us/en.
New York City also accepts CFLs for recycling at five special drop-off sites – one in each borough. For locations and times, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless. Westchester County residents can call 211, the county’s Recycling HelpLine, or visit www.westchestergov.com. |
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General
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Improving the ventilation in your attic can lower the temperature of the entire house. |
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Energy-efficient appliances save energy and money. |
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Cook outside on a barbeque grill rather than using the oven. |
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Drapes, shades, and awnings shield windows from the hot sun, keeping your home cooler. |
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Run the dishwasher only when it's completely full. |
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Take advantage of the energy-saving control on your dishwasher. |
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Run your clothes washer only when you have a full load of laundry. |
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Clean your dryer's lint filter before each load. |
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Washing your laundry with cold water whenever possible can save energy and money. |
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Overloading the dryer makes it work harder. |
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Turn off instant-on features on appliances. |
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Unplugging televisions, stereos, computers and other appliances when not in use helps protect the environment. The International Energy Agency estimates that the power consumed by these appliances in standby is responsible for one percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. |
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A TV with a remote could use more energy during the 20 hours it is turned off waiting for you to turn it on than it does while you watch it for four hours. |
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EnergyGuide labels do not tell you which appliance is the most efficient, but they will tell you the annual energy usage and average operating cost of each appliance so you can compare them. |
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