Tips for Saving Energy in your Home this Winter

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Thermostats

You can save 2-3 percent on your heating costs for each degree you are able to lower your thermostat. Programmable thermostats are a great way to automatically keep temperatures low while you are away or at night.

Set your thermostat to the lowest possible comfort setting. At night, put an extra blanket or down comforter on the bed and turn down your thermostat a degree or two more.

Set your thermostat back 5 degrees when leaving your home for an extended period of time. Overall, however, keep the temperature fairly constant. Frequent changes will use more energy.

Simply dressing in layers and keeping a throw near the sofa or easy chair to use when watching TV are basic tips for enjoying your home's heating comfort at a slightly lower temperature.

Adequate humidity in your home increases the comfort level and cuts heating costs. Don't turn up your thermostat to remove humidity, instead briefly run your kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan to help remove the humidity.

When entertaining in your home, turn down the thermostat a degree or two before your guests arrive. The additional body heat will make up the difference.

Where your thermostat is located sometimes determines how well it operates. It should never be placed on an exterior wall, where it would be affected by the hot or cold outdoor temperatures.

To clean your thermostat, gently blow out any dust or lint. Because it is a delicate instrument, it should be cleaned gently. If your thermostat is 10 years old or older, you might replace it with a newer model that is more accurate and efficient.

Heat Pumps: Set your thermostat and forget it. Keep your thermostat set at the lowest comfort level for your home. Every degree above 70 costs an additional 3-5 percent.

Avoid dramatic changes in your thermostat settings. A large increase in temperature may cause the supplemental heat strip to operate, which will cause a greater consumption of energy and, consequently, higher costs.

Find more information on how to save energy in your home with our Energy Savings Toolkit (customer login required).

Water Heater

Check the thermostat setting on your water heater. Most homes only require a setting of 120 degrees. Lowering the setting of your water heater thermostat can save approximately 3 to 5 percent in energy costs.

If your water heater was purchased before 1990, add a water heater jacket to save energy. (Check your owner's manual before installing.)

Reduce the amount of hot water needed for laundry. Use warm or cold water for washing clothes and cold water for rinsing―helps save energy and your clothes!

Eighty percent of the energy used in an automatic dishwasher goes toward heating the water. Run the dishwasher only when it's full! Running a half-filled dishwasher twice uses two times the energy as running a full load once.

Make sure your hot water pipes are insulated. This reduces heat loss and helps lower your consumption of hot water.

Install a shower head with a flow rate of less than 2.5 gpm (gallons per minute) for maximum water efficiency. Don't forget―showers use less hot water than baths.

Repair a leaky hot water faucet. A single leak can waste gallons of water in a very short period of time.

Furnace or Heating System

Clean or change your heating system's filters monthly for optimum performance.

Keep your outside heating unit clear and clean.

Have your furnace inspected regularly (both for safety and energy efficiency). Follow the manufacturer's guidelines on maintenance.

If you have a natural gas furnace, check the pilot light periodically. It should be a steady blue flame.

If your furnace has a built in humidifier, use it. The extra humidity will make the air feel warmer.

Clean the vents regularly. Make sure drapes or furniture does not block the air vents or returns.

Only heat the rooms you need―close vents and doors of unused rooms.

Use mastic (a gooey substance applied with a brush) to seal all exposed ductwork joints in areas such as the attic, crawlspace or basement. Insulate ducts to improve your heating system's efficiency.

Limit the use of portable or space heaters. Follow all of the manufacturer's instructions. Keep heaters away from draperies and furniture.

Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed. Make sure furniture, carpeting or drapes do not block the air flow.

Wood Fireplaces: Keep fireplace dampers closed when they aren't needed. Warm air will rise up the chimney and escape when the fireplace is not in use. Glass doors on fireplaces are a very efficient means of blocking the loss of warm air through the chimney.

Ceiling Fans: Set ceiling fans to run counter clockwise so the warm air is pushed to the outside walls. Using a ceiling fan can help create a gentle air flow that will make your home more comfortable.

Insulation and Air Leaks

Check your home for air leaks. Common sources of air leaks include cracks around doors and windows; gaps along baseboards; mail chutes and pet doors; cracks in brick, siding or foundation; and where external lines (phone, cable, etc.) enter your home.

A temporary measure to stop drafts and heat loss is to roll a towel and place it against the bottom of the door.

Other effective places to add insulation include unfinished basement walls and crawlspaces. Check the insulation in crawlspaces periodically for dampness. When insulation gets wet, its effectiveness is significantly reduced.

Plug air leaks with caulking or weather-stripping. Use foam or plastic gaskets to insulate drafty electrical outlets along exterior walls. This may help save up to 10 percent on your energy bill.

Consider replacing old windows. Storm or dual-glazed windows can reduce heat gain by as much as 50 percent. New windows often pay for themselves within five years.

Adequate insulation in your attic, ceilings, walls, floors and crawlspaces can save up to 30 percent on your energy bill. In the Midwest, experts recommend 9 to 15 inches of blown or blanket insulation in an attic to help keep the heat in. Read more about insulating your home: Save Money without Sacrificing Comfort.

Lighting

Turn lights off when you leave a room. Standard incandescent light bulbs should be turned off whenever they are not needed, and fluorescent lights should be turned off whenever you will be away for at least 15 minutes.

Dimmers, motion sensors or occupancy sensors help reduce the unnecessary use of lights.

Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in place of comparable incandescent bulbs. This replacement will help save about 50 percent on your lighting costs. CFLs require only one-fourth the energy and will last up to 10 time longer than incandescent bulbs.

Use task lighting for under-counter kitchen lights and bathroom mirror lights. Task lights help reduce the need for ambient lighting of large spaces.

A skylight can provide your room with natural light. An energy-efficient skylight when properly installed can help minimize lighting costs.

Paint your walls with a light color. This will minimize the need for artificial lighting in the room.

Use white shades on your lamps. This color will help make the room appear brighter.

Keep blinds, shades and draperies open during the day to allow sunlight to brighten and warm your rooms. Close them at night for insulation purposes.

Appliances and Electronics

Toaster ovens, microwaves and counter-top grills use less energy and create less heat than a full-sized oven. Use these appliances when you need to prepare small portions of food. A microwave oven will use about half the energy as a conventional oven.

You can reduce your oven's baking temperature by 25 degrees if you use glass cookware.

Use cold water when operating your food/waste disposal. Cold water saves energy and helps move the waste through the drain.

Flip the switch to air dry on your dishwasher or open the door after the wash/rinse cycle is complete and save about 50 percent of the energy used to run this appliance.

Check the door gaskets on your refrigerator and freezer. Close the door on a dollar bill. If the bill can be easily pulled from the closed door, you should replace the gasket.

Don't pack your refrigerator and freezer space so tightly that air cannot adequately reach the food. Your refrigerator and freezer need room to circulate the cold air. The appliance will operate efficiently with space to circulate air throughout the compartments.

Vacuum the coils on your refrigerator and freezer units as least every three month. The dirt accumulation on the coils causes the appliance to work harder to keep the contents cool or frozen.

When doing laundry, use the cold water setting on your washer for most loads. This will help reduce the amount of hot water you use. Also, wash a load of laundry only when you have a full load. This simple tip may reduce the number of loads by up to 20 percent.

Use the lowest appropriate temperature setting on your dryer. Avoid partial loads or over loads in your dryer.

Consider placing a dry towel in the dryer with each load of wet clothes. The towel will absorb dampness and reduce drying time. Also, drying several loads of laundry consecutively will allow you to take advantage of the heat in the drum.

Clean the dryer's lint filter after each load. A clean filter allows the air to circulate efficiently and help reduce the drying time.

Read more about the energy consumption of new appliances: Consumption Up - New Appliances Eat Energy.

Activate the "sleep" feature on computers and home office equipment that power down the equipment when its not in use for a while. Check out the general guidelines for when to turn your computer off or leave it on.

Be aware of "phantom loads"! Many electronic appliances are using power even when they are off. Examples of phantom loads include CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, alarm clocks, computers, printers and televisions. Any appliance or charging device that has a cube shaped transformer on the end of its cord is creating a phantom load. More.

Landscaping

Plant shrubs, bushes and vines next to your home to create dead air spaces that will help insulate the exterior walls in summer and winter. Make sure to leave at least one foot of space between the wall and the fully mature plant. Evergreens on the north side of your house can provide shelter against cold winds and can lower your heating bill.