More Ideas & Tips

By doing your laundry in the late evening, when the demand for electricity drops and energy rates are lowest, you can save money.

Save money! Set your air conditioning to 78 during the midday to late afternoon hours in the summer and set your electric heating to 68 during evening hours in the winter.

If you can shift most of your electricity usage away from afternoons and early evenings, then you can often save money on a TOU rate plan.

Some refrigerators lose much of the coolness they make and do not make efficient use of the electricity they consume. This is especially true of older models, and important in homes with large numbers of people.

Some washers do not make efficient use of electricity and hot water. This is especially true of older models, and in homes with large numbers of people and laundry.

Some dishwashers do not make efficient use of electricity and hot water. This is especially true of older models, and in homes with large numbers of people and dishwashing.

Most people live by a reasonably predictable routine, and there are often significant parts of a home that are not occupied while others are (typically, bedrooms are not occupied during the day, etc.), it is likely worthwhile avoiding heating and/or cooling those areas. This may be achieved automatically by defining zones in your home and installing equipment that controls the heating and cooling in each of those zones.

A five minute shower shortened by a minute will save 20% of the energy needed.

If a limited amount of cooling is needed and the outside air temp is acceptable, a whole house fan is a very economical solution - low initial expense and low running costs. A whole house fan is typically installed in the ceiling in the middle of the house, and is operated by opening windows and doors and turning on the fan; cool air from outside is drawn into the house and the existing warm air is exhausted up through the roof.

Lowering the temperature settings of your heat management controller will cause your heating system to use less energy, and is a worthwhile consideration in circumstances where there is little impact to comfort, or where clothing and other adjustments are preferable by the home's occupants.