Any good ideas for saving energy and heating costs?

Question

Besides storm windows and lowering the thermostat.

Answer 1

Remove the plugs of appliances, keep refrigerator/freezer on medium, wash clothes in cold water if you can, use clothesline instead of dryer for towels, sweaters and sheets.

Answer 2

Buy a digital thermostat so you can lower the heat when you aren't home. Wash your clothes in cold water, take cooler showers, and lower the temperature on your hot water heater. Add heavy curtains and buy energy saving appliances. Repair or replace old furnaces. Shut lights of when you leave the room. Buy the more expensive light bulbs, some pay for themselves.

Answer 3

---Set your thermostat as low as comfortably possible.
---Clean or replace furnace filters each month.
---Clean baseboard heaters, warm-air registers, and radiators as needed; always make sure they're not blocked by drapes, carpeting, or furniture.

---Use kitchen, bath and other ventilating fans wisely. These fans can pull out a houseful of warmed air in just one hour. Remember to turn these fans off as soon as they have done the job.

---Take advantage of “passive solar.” During the colder months, open blinds, draperies and shades on south-facing windows to allow the sun’s friendly rays to warm your home. You’ll be surprised at how effective this is. Close them at night to reduce the chill and keep warm air inside.

----Close any unoccupied rooms that are isolated from the rest of the house, such as corner rooms, and turn down the thermostat or turn off the heating for that room or zone altogether. However, if it adversely affects the rest of your system, do not turn the heating off.

Answer 4

Hi Martin,

You can find lots ideas for saving energy and the environment (not to mention reducing your energy consumption bills) in a compact little booklet that everyone can download for free from http://www.cleverhome.com.au/save-energy-efficiency-home-automation.shtml.

While the page features many ways in which home automation can be applied to help reduce your heating/cooling and lighting costs, the above booklet covers a host of simple ways in which you can conserve energy without installing a home automation system.

Answer 5

The best way to do any of this is on a urban scale. You can't do much as one person but a million people can really conserve a lot of energy by applying good engineering to details that use a lot of energy.