More Ideas & Tips

Most electronic equipment draws small amounts of power, even when they are in the 'off' state. Unfortunately, when many devices are in such a state, for 24 hours for every day in the year, the amount of power consumed is actually very significant.

Unwanted air and water leaks may cause significant increases in your home's heating and cooling costs, and may even result in permanent damage and require substantial repair spending.

It is important to tune-up your heating and cooling system, including cleaning, corrections to ensure the efficient operation/mixture of burners, sealing to repair for movement and leaks, service mechanical operations, and free of obstructions (including all intakes and exhausts).

Most PCs, monitors and peripherals have low-power/sleep modes for when they are not being used. Many devices are not properly set to enter these modes automatically, especially PCs; when properly set, you can save large sums annually while still avoiding having to reboot your equipment daily.

Older ducts are typically not insulated, and large amounts of warmth and/or coolness that your heating and/or cooling systems have worked on escapes before it gets into your home. By insulating your ducts this loss can be greatly reduced, and the air you have paid so much to have heated and cooled will then be retained for use.

Many homes, particularly older ones, have gaps in their outer shell that allow air to escape - air that your heating and cooling systems have worked on so much. These gaps are commonly around windows and doors, in ceiling light fixtures, in electrical plug-in sockets and switches, along molding, and between floor boards and steps. While some amount of outside air infiltration is desirable, even necessary, it is very important to prevent excessive air flow.

With too little ceiling insulation, a lot of warmth escapes your home through your ceilings in the winter, and a lot of coolness escapes in the summer. This can be easily prevented by putting insulation into your attic areas above ceilings. For attic ceilings, this is a relatively inexpensive and unintrusive measure to undertake.

With too little floor insulation, a lot of heat escapes your home through your floors in the winter, and/or a lot of coolness escapes in the summer. This can be easily prevented by putting insulation under the lower floors of your house. This is a relatively inexpensive and unobtrusive measure to undertake.

Certain windows (particularly older, metal-frame, single pane ones) transmit a lot of warmth out of your home in the winter, and a lot of coolness in the summer. This can be prevented by replacing them with multipaned and insulated frame windows.

With too little wall insulation, a lot of warmth escapes your home through your exterior walls in the winter, and a lot of coolness escapes in the summer. This can be prevented by putting insulation in the hollow spaces in the exterior walls of your house.