Tips
- Look for the ENERGY STAR label whenever you shop
- The ENERGY STAR program doesn't just apply to appliances. It covers over 60 product categories. Using ENERGY STAR products will help you live a more energy-efficient lifestyle, save money, reduce emissions, and eliminate wasted energy.
- Get a home energy audit
- Ask your utility company if they provide energy audits. If so, sign-up for one. If not, hire an outside professional to conduct one for you. Find out where your home is wasting energy and learn how you can live a greener lifestyle by making some changes in your home's performance.
- Plant some deciduous trees
- Reduce your heating and cooling costs with an energy-efficient landscape design.
- Install solar landscape lights
- Avoid electric lights along your walkway and opt for a green alternative. Install solar lights that collect and store energy throughout the day and light up your walkway for free every night.
- Reduce your impact with solar products
- There are lots of outdoor solar options that will benefit your home and garden and eliminate energy costs. Consider replacing your existing water fountain with a solar option, or install solar flood lights to light up a large outdoor area at night.
- Prevent pollution; Take action with energy saving tips
- Apply the Cut Costs and Be Efficient tips to your lifestyle and you'll reduce your carbon emissions and save energy and money at the same time.
- Shop for recyclable, energy-efficient electronics
- Shopping for energy-efficient electronics will save you money and reduce your carbon impact, but why not take it a step further? Look for products that are made of recycled materials or buy used products and reuse them. Consider a refurbished laptop made of recyclable materials.
- Use eco-friendly, carbon-neutral products
- Purchase products produced by companies that reduce carbon emissions wherever possible and offset any remaining emissions emitted during the manufacturing and shipping of their product.
- Be part of the solution
- Reduce your emissions by following energy saving tips, recycling, and reusing what you can. Offset remaining carbon emissions produced by your lifestyle by participating in a carbon offset program.
- Use natural light for your day-to-day activities
- Whenever possible, don't flip on a light switch; use natural light coming from windows or skylights when reading, cooking, or performing other tasks around the house.
- Ask for help and improve your home's performance
- There are a variety of qualified contractors who can help you improve your home's energy performance and reduce your carbon emissions: energy specialists, heating and cooling contractors, air sealing contractors, and insulation contractors.
- Keep the air clean inside and out
- Looking for a new home? Shop not only an ENERGY STAR rated home but for an Indoor airPLUS rated home. Homes that carry these two labels require that stringent specifications be met to ensure energy-efficiency, along with improved indoor air quality.
- Take shorter showers.
- Limit showers to the time it takes to lather up, wash down and rinse. A running shower can waste 3-7 gallons per minute.
- Turn off the tap.
- Running the water while brushing teeth and shaving can waste hundreds of gallons every month.
- Upgrade to an efficient clothes washing machine.
- High-efficiency clothes washers can reduce water and energy use by 40%. We provide for residential customers who purchase qualifying efficient clothes washer models. Wash only full laundry loads.You don't need to do laundry every day. Wait until you have a full load of laundry to run the washing machine and you'll save on water, wastewater and energy costs.
- Don't water the pavement.
- Position sprinkler heads to water lawns and gardens to make sure the spray does not run over to the concrete. Check for broken sprinkler heads, drip emitters or irrigation tubing. Broken sprinkler heads waste water and can potentially damage your landscape. Inspect your sprinkler heads at least once a month.
Facts
- About 80% of residential energy use is consumed in single family homes, while 15% is consumed in multi-family dwellings such as apartments, and 5% is consumed in mobile homes.‡
- Even though carbon dioxide is a natural part of the earth's atmosphere, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, emit excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, known as carbon emissions.
- Americans used renewable energy sources-water (hydroelectric), geothermal, wind, sun (solar), and biomass-to meet about 7% of the nation's total energy needs in 2007.‡
- Wind-generated electricity increased by 45% between 2005 and 2006 and by 21% between 2006 and 2007, more than any other renewable source of generation in both years.‡
- ENERGY STAR qualified appliances incorporate advanced technologies that use 10-50% less energy and water than standard models.†
Facts sourced from [*] the U.S. Department of Energy (EERE); [<86>] the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including ENERGY STAR; and [<87>] the Environmental Information Administration (EIA).