Energy Saving Tips

Having to do laundry is something that everybody has in common. More than most other chores, it is repetitive, and pretty expensive. Between the washer, dryer, laundromat fees, fabric softeners and detergent costs,and the power it takes to run your machines you may find yourself in over your head. Read up on a few ways to keep some cash on laundry day. Read the rest...

How to switch electric companies and save hundreds

Does your state allow electric choice and competition ?

• First, you'll need to find out if your state allows electric companies to compete for your business.
• At the time this article was written, the following states had programs that allowed consumer choice: New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, Washington D.C., Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Virginia, and New Hampshire.

Then...Read the rest...

If you are a low income family or individual and you qualify under the state guidelines, you can apply for the weatherization program. Once you have been approved, you can get improvements to your home that will weatherize it to cut down the costs of your heating bills. Contractors can fix or replace old and broken furnaces, repair or put in new windows, add insulation, caulking, and more.

Update: President Obama's stimulus program, now passed by Congress, is set to pump an additional $5 billion into this program.  That can mean up to ten times more spent this year versus in year's past, especially in the colder weather states like Oregon, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, etc.  Minnesota, for example, usually weatherizes about 3500 homes each year, and with the additional funding could raise that to almost 35,000.Read the rest...

Choosing the right color for your exterior walls plays a big role in your energy-saving strategy. There's a significant difference in the "reflectance" between dark paints and light paints. It's this reflectance that causes the paint to either absorb and hold heat, or to reflect and dissipate the heat.

Darker Paints to retain heat from the sun...Read the rest...