Información en español
Overview
1. Americans
spend more than $160 billion a year to heat, cool, light, and live in their
residences.
2. Heating
and cooling use more energy and drain more energy dollars than any other
systems in your home.
3. Typically,
45% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling.
4. Heating
and cooling systems in the United States emit 150 million tons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere each year, adding to global climate change.
5. Heating
and cooling systems generate about 12% of the nation's sulfur dioxide and 4% of
the nitrogen oxides, the chief ingredients in acid rain.
6. Save
20% to 30% on energy bills with energy-efficiency improvements.
7. Cut
your energy use and reduce emissions from 20% to 50% with proper
insulation, air sealing, and thermostat settings.
Appliances
8. Many
appliances continue to draw a small amount of power even when they are switched off.
Unplug appliances after use.
9. The
lower the wattage or amperage, the less energy consumed.
10. Replace older appliances with Energy Star-qualified appliances; they use less energy and can save you money.
11. Appliances account for about 20%
of your household's energy consumption.
12. Learn
more about Energy Star-qualified appliances at www.energystar.gov.
13. Use
energy-saving settings on all appliances.
14. Electric
kettles use less energy than stovetop kettles.
15. Run
the dishwasher only when it's full.
16. 60%
to 80% of the power used by a dishwasher just heats water.
17. Run
your clothes washer only with a full load of laundry.
18. An
Energy Star washer can save more water than one person drinks in a lifetime.
19. Wash
your laundry with cold water to save energy and money.
20. U.S. households spend up to $135 per year in energy costs drying clothes.
21. Gas
dryers are more efficient than electric ones.
22. Overloading
the dryer makes it work harder.
23. Front
loaders generally conserve water and are more efficient.
24. Dryers
with cool-down or perm-press cycles use cool air during the last few minutes;
this saves energy.
25. Refrigerators, clothes washers, and
clothes dryers are at the top of the energy-consumption list.
26. A dirty
lint filter can use 30% more energy.
Air
Conditioners
27. Air conditioning
accounts for about 56% of your energy use.
28. Set
your AC to 78 degrees. 75 degrees costs 18% more, and 72 degrees costs 39%
more.
29. Keep
air-conditioner filters clean.
30. Air-conditioner capacity should be the right amount for the size of the room.
31. Look
for an air conditioner with built-in timers and thermostats.
32. In
winter, close the air-conditioning unit, unplug, and cover.
33. For
air conditioners, look for a high Seasonal Energy-Efficiency Ratio (SEER). The
current minimum is 13 SEER for central air conditioners. Energy Star models are
13 SEER or more.
General
Home Care
34. Energy-efficient homes are less costly to own, operate, and maintain, and they are more
comfortable.
35. In
the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at
night.
36. Inspect
your cooling system in the spring and heating system in the fall.
37. Regularly
clean or replace your furnace, air conditioner, and heat-pump filters.
38. Close
curtains during hot summer months to block the sun.
39. Every
year, more than $13 billion worth of energy leaks from homes through small
holes and cracks. That’s more than $150 per family.
40. Seal
drafty windows, doors, and holes around plumbing fixtures.
41. Water heaters consume 85% to 90% of the energy used to wash your clothes.
42. Turn
down your water heater to the "warm" setting (120 degrees).
43. Turn
off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after cooking or
bathing.
44. Replace
older exhaust fans with high-efficiency, low-noise models.
45. One
thousand watt-hours equals 1 kilowatt-hour, or 1 kWh.
46. The
average residential rate is 8.3 cents per kWh.
47. A
typical U.S. household consumes about 11,000 kWh per year, costing an average
of $900 annually.
48. A
refrigerator uses almost five times more electricity than a television.
49. Across
America, home refrigerators use the electricity generated by 25 large power plants
every year.
50. Every
time you open the refrigerator door, up to 30% of cold air escapes.
51. Position
refrigerators away from direct sunlight and heat sources.
52. Pack
items tightly in freezer.
53. Make
sure rubber gaskets on refrigerator doors provide a tight seal.
54. Clean
coils and remove dust from behind the refrigerator.
55. Recycling
one aluminum can save enough energy to watch television for three hours.
Lighting
56. If we
changed an incandescent light bulb for every child in America, it would prevent more than 30 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and save enough
money to light more than 15 million homes for an entire year.
57. Making
improvements to your lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy
bills.
58. Look
for the Energy Star label when purchasing lighting products.
59. Turn
off lights when not home and buy a timer to turn them on 1/2 hour before returning
home.
60. Lighting
accounts for about 20% of the average home’s electric bill.
61. The
average home has about 30 light fixtures.
62. Keep
fixtures clean.
63. By
using new lighting technologies, you can reduce lighting energy use in your
home by 50% to 75%.
64. Replace
your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). They use 75%
less energy and last 10 times longer.
65. Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs
because of their long life.
66. Use
brighter bulbs for reading and work areas; use 25- to 40-watt bulbs where only some
light is needed.
67. Consider using 4-watt minifluorescent or
electro-luminescent night lights.
68. Use dimmers.
69. Turn
off the lights in any room you're not using, or consider installing timers, photo
cells, or sensors to save money.
70. Instead
of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it.
71. Use
fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops.
72. Three-way
lamps make it easier to keep lighting low when brighter light is not necessary.
73. Use
four-foot fluorescent fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for
your workroom, garage, and laundry areas.
74. You can save about $35 annually if you replace four standard incandescent lamps with CFLs.
75. Properly
recessed down lights or high hats can now be used in retrofits or new
construction with CFLs.
76. Take
advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your
windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy.
77. Decorate
with lighter colors that reflect daylight.
78. Replace
torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps with compact fluorescent torchieres.
79. Compact
fluorescent torchieres use 60% to 80% less energy. They produce more light and
produce less heat.
Outdoor
Lighting
80. Use
outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a motion sensor so they go on only at
night or when someone is present.
81. A
combined photocell and motion sensor will increase your energy savings even
more.
82. Turn
off decorative outdoor natural gas lamps; just eight such lamps burning
year round use as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home all
winter.
83. Try outdoor solar lighting systems. They convert sunlight into electricity.
84. If
you live in a cold climate, buy a lamp with cold-weather ballast, since standard
CFLs may not work well below 40 degrees.
85. Consider
high-intensity discharge (also called HID) or low-pressure sodium lights.
Computers
86. Turn
off your computer monitor when not in use for more than 20 minutes.
87. Turn
off your computer when not in use for more than two hours.
88. Unplug
your cell phone and blackberry chargers when they're not being used.
89. A
laptop uses half the energy of a desktop computer.
90. Use a
power strip/surge protector for your computer, monitor, printer, and other
computer accessories.
91. To
maximize savings with a laptop, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be
turned off or that will turn off automatically.
92. Turn
off the switch on the power surge strip when the equipment is not in use.
93. Using
rechargeable batteries for products like cordless phones and PDAs is more cost
effective than throwaway batteries.
94. An
Energy Star computer uses 70% less electricity.
95. If
left inactive, Energy Star computers enter a low-power mode and use 15 watts or
less.
96. Working
in low-power mode saves energy, and helps equipment run cooler and last longer.
97. Screen
savers on monitors do not reduce energy.
98. Switch
to the sleep mode or manually turn monitors off to save energy.
99. Inkjet printers consume less electricity than laser
printers.
Visit
100. Visit the following sites for more information:
