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Release date: 06/08/2010
Contact Information: Enesta Jones, jones.enesta@epa.gov, 202-564-7873, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program offers low to no-cost energy-efficient cooling tips to beat the heat. A typical household spends almost 20 percent of its utility bill on cooling, and by taking steps this summer to improve energy efficiency, you can save energy, save money and help fight climate change.
Try these simple tips to start saving today:
No-Cost
· Program your thermostat to work around your family’s summer schedule—set it a few degrees higher (such as 78 degrees) when no one is home, so your cooling system isn’t cooling an empty house. With proper use, programmable thermostats can save you about $180 a year in energy costs.
· Check your HVAC system’s air filter every month. If the filter looks dirty, change it, but change the filter at least every three months. A dirty filter will slow air flow and make the system work harder to keep you cool, wasting energy.
· Run your ceiling fan to create a cool breeze. If you raise your thermostat by only two degrees and use your ceiling fan, you can lower cooling costs by up to 14 percent. Remember that ceiling fans cool you, not the room, so when you leave the room make sure to turn off the fan.
· Pull the curtains and shades closed before you leave your home to keep the sun’s rays from overheating the interior of your home. If you can, move container trees and plants in front of sun-exposed windows to serve as shade.
Low-Cost
· Remember to have your HVAC system serviced annually to ensure it’s running at optimum efficiency for money and energy savings.
· Swap out incandescent bulbs with more energy-efficient lighting choices. Energy Star qualified lighting not only uses less energy, it also produces about 75 percent less heat than incandescent lighting, so cooling bills will be reduced, too.
· Seal your air ducts. As much as 20 percent of the air moving through your home’s duct system is lost due to leaks and poor connections. Seal duct work using mastic sealant or metal tape and insulate all the ducts that you can access (such as those in attics, crawlspaces, unfinished basements, and garages).
· Make sure that connections at vents and registers are well-sealed where they meet floors, walls, and ceilings. These are common locations to find leaks and disconnected ductwork.
Other Tips
· When buying a room air conditioner, look for one that has earned EPA’s Energy Star. If every room air conditioner in the United States were Energy Star qualified, they would prevent 900 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually—equivalent to the emissions from 80,000 cars.
· Add insulation to your attic to keep cool air in. If every American household did so, Americans would collectively save more than $1.8 billion in yearly energy costs.
· Hire a contractor to seal and insulate the interior ductwork in your home (the ducts you can’t reach yourself). For help on choosing the right contractor, go to http://www.energystar.gov/homeimprovement
· If your central air conditioning unit is more than 12 years old, replacing it with a model that has earned EPA’s Energy Star could cut your cooling costs by 30 percent.
More information about keeping cool and comfortable while saving money this season: http://www.energystar.gov
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There's a good article today at The Simple Dollar on how to save on air conditioning costs too. I was out looking for a drain on my AC after reading that and my husband eventually told me we don't have one. Only after letting me go look! He thinks he's funny. :)
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/06/20/the-real-reason-your-summer-energy-bills-are-so-high-and-seven-simple-ways-to-fix-it/
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Some more ideas to add to the pot. :)
Generating less heat will not only keep your home cooler—it'll also keep your energy bills down all summer long. Here are a few tricks for doing just that.
Don't use the oven or the stove
Salads are a popular summer food because they're light and less food means you'll generate less heat. But another reason to stick with a salad rather than cooked food is the amount of heat you can produce in the kitchen. Tone down the cooking indoors and grill outdoors when you feel the need to cook for a cooler home.
Air dry your clothing
A clothes drier is designed for the purpose of generating heat, so you can avoid bringing more heat into your home by drying your clothes on a line (or anything you can hang them on, for that matter). Not only will you avoid the heat from the drier, but if you hang them evenly you'll avoid wrinkles as well. The benefit is twofold: you won't have the annoyance or the additional heat that comes with ironing.
Avoid the heat cycle on your dishwasher
For most the dishwasher has a start and stop button and that's the extent of its functionality. Included in its general routine is a dry cycle that uses heat to dry the dishes faster. If you have time to dry them by hand or let the air do it for you, turning off the heat cycle on your dishwasher is a good way to reduce heat.
Sleep, shutdown or unplug
If your electronics are constantly running they'll produce quite a bit of heat, as you're most likely aware. If you can sleep them, great, but shutting down and unplugging the devices ensures that they're not sipping any power. While it might be minimal savings in temperature and on your electric bill, a little is better than nothing.
Turn off the lights
It's summer, so chances are you'll have an abundance of natural light on most days. With the sun beaming in, use its light rather than your own.
http://lifehacker.com/5568322/keep-the-temperature-down-by-generating-le...
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Cool Your Drapes
If it isn't hotter outside than it is in your home, you've probably cracked a window already to at least cool things down a little bit. If you're finding an open window isn't sufficient, spray a sheet with cold water and use it to cover the window's opening. As the breeze passes through, the cold and damp sheet will cool it bringing in chilled air and further helping to reduce the temperature in your home.
Schedule Your Windows
If all you have are windows to work with, you can still use them to your advantage. While the difference is more significant in arid environments, the temperature outdoors cools at night, and that's the air you want to let into your home. If you keep your windows closed while the sun is up and open them while the sun is down, you can trap the cooler air in your home and keep the temperature a few degrees lower. Even better: Set up a couple of inexpensive box fans in windows on opposite sides of a room to create a nice through-breeze.
More here.
http://lifehacker.com/5568311/five-effective-diy-alternatives-to-running...
78 degrees is too low for me. I rarely set my air conditioning below 80. When you're coming inside from almost 100 degree heat, that's plenty cold. Thanks for the tips!